What If?

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue

Chapter 1

What If?

Author's Note: Ok, everypony, just like last time, each chapter shall contain a reference to a Coldplay song. For this first chapter, I've made the reference easy! Enjoy!

For new readers, it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that you read the series "To Fix You", before undertaking this series. If you do not, this story will not make sense.

Chapter 1

Like many other small towns in Equestria, most ponies taking residence in Ponyville know one another. For anypony living in such a town, knowing one pony means knowing nearly every other pony. However, it has been said that the only pony to know absolutely everypony else in town is the resident pink party pony, Pinkie Pie. It is extremely rare, therefore, for a resident of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie in particular, to see somepony they have yet to make the acquaintance of. The comradery and friendliness offered by the small town ensures that the citizens of the town will always know quickly whenever there is a new stranger in their midst, for it does not take much for a few ponies to notice somepony they don't recognize, and it takes even less for the news to then spread by word of mouth until everypony knows it.

This was, as always, the case when he arrived. He came dragging his hooves, as if his journey had left them weary. He wore a long black traveler's cloak over his tall, lanky, yet muscular frame. His sinewy legs rippled in protest with every step he took, yet he strode into town with an air of determination and a steadfast gaze. His golden yellow eyes stared fixedly forward from deep within the confines of his hood. He was not the type of pony to blend into the backdrop. He stood tall, as tall as, if not taller than, any stallion in town. His high stature and stoic disposition commanded attention as he strode down the main street through town, even if he often stumbled over his own worn-out hooves.

Throughout the town, ponies dropped what they were doing to turn and stare at the newcomer. The bravest among them ventured out into the street to gain a better view, while the meekest opted to cower behind the shadows, off put by his powerful, if deteriorating, frame. No one spoke a word to him, but after he passed, words were exchanged liberally between them. Idle discussion of the mysterious stranger was passed from mouth to ear; excited gossip put forth between shoppers and store-keepers; hushed musings about his identity whispered between friends. Word of the newcomer spread through the town like wildfire.

Still the strange stallion strode on. The thatched roofs of homes and businesses alike passed him by at a steady pace as he made his way down the unpaved street. The gravel crunched beneath his hooves with each step, little puffs of dust rising whenever a hoof was lifted again. The rhythmic pattern of crunching created a forewarning to ponies ahead of the approaching stallion – telling them to either stop and stare or shrink back from the main road. In truth, the crunching of gravel was not altogether an uncommon sound for a city with loose stone streets, but few ponies in the town carried footfalls as heavy and loud as the stranger's, and of them, none sported the strange, rhythmic, steadfastly determined gait that he did. Like he himself, the sound of his stride was unfamiliar to most ponies, and so garnered him further attention.

A light summer breeze began to blow, whipping through the town and chilling the relatively hot afternoon. The stranger's tail was lifted by the wind, individual strands of blonde hair whipping gently in the breeze as he continued to walk. The rushing air would have done the same to his messy blonde mane had it not been covered by the hood of the cloak he wore over his brown pelt. He barely registered the intrusion of the breeze. A slight flick of his covered head was all the indication he gave of having noticed.

It was, in truth, not his first visit to the town. Those ponies of a certain age and of certain memories might remember him from a time when he was younger; a time when he had lived in their midst. The stallion had once called Ponyville his home. He had once laughed and chatted with his fellow citizens as a well-respected regular of the community. That time had been years ago, however. Most of those ponies who would have recognized him now sat inside their houses, shut up against the oppressive heat of the summer. Had any of his old comrades seen him, he might not have been recognized, anyway, for among those citizens who had known him, few remembered him, and fewer still wished to. The other ponies on the street were either too young or too ignorant to remember him, and so he went unrecognized.

He stopped almost as suddenly as he had seemingly appeared, halting in the middle of the road. He lurched as he brought himself to a stop. Before him, his options lay. The street he was on continued straight on ahead, splitting between dual rows of equine houses that extended to the edge of town. The cross street split it at right angles, stretching off to his left and right. The mysterious pony had shown no emotion since entering the village, no actions gave away his thoughts save for his steady stride. Now, however, with that stride broken, he seemed confused, uncertain, as if he didn't belong. The aura of self-assuredness he had carried previously began to dissipate, gradually becoming displaced by a sense of agitation towards a seemingly simple problem. This pony did not know, or more likely, did not remember, where to go.

It was in this moment of weakness that he was first approached by another pony. Pinkie Pie made it her mission to know everypony in Ponyville, and always tried to meet and greet every newcomer. With a blissful smile on her face and jovial humor in her eyes, she trotted up to him. "Hiya, stranger! Welcome to Ponyville! My name's Pinkie Pie and I'm super-duper excited to meet you! What's your name? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

The stallion lowered his head. His tired, yellow eyes carried no light in the dim shadow of his hood. He sighed down at the bouncing, energetic young pony before him. "You do not need to know my name."

"Oooh! A guessing game? I love guessing games! Let's see… is it… Bucky McSilversteen? Goldenmane? OOH! The Hooded Avenger?"

"I said… you do not… need to know… my name." He raised an eyebrow at the excitable pink pony, giving her a half glare which persisted until her mouth shut.

"Fine. You can be a Secret Secrety McSecret-pants." Pinkie Pie leapt into the air, eager to expend some of her natural energy. The stallion had still not moved from his spot, and she looked at him questioningly when she returned to the ground. "Are you lost?"

"It has been some years since I last was here. I do believe I have forgotten my way. Tell me. How does one get to The Apple Family Farm from here?"

"The Apple Family's farm! Of course I know how to get there, silly! That's where Applejack, one of my bestest best friends in all of Equestria lives!"

"You know Applejack?"

"Well, duh, she's one of my bestest best friends! Weren't you listening? Do you know her?"

"Never mind that. How do I get there again?"

Pinkie Pie bounced around and landed next to the strange pony. She stuck out a hoof and pointed rigidly down the cross-street. "You just turn right here and go down this street and then you reach the bridge and the road gets really really windy and then you walk for a long time and it starts to seem like forever but then you start to see apple trees so you know that you are close and…"

"Thank you. Thank you. That's quite enough. I believe I remember now." The large brown stallion began to gallop down the street, soon leaving Pinkie Pie well behind him. He kicked up further clouds of dust and startled more ponies as he went, finally slowing down as he reached the edge of town and the bridge over the stream. He recognized this bridge from a time long before. Slowly, he began to recognize his surroundings, and set out toward his destination, confident that he did in fact remember the way around his former hometown. Even as he got further away and slowed to a walk, however, he thought he could hear a rather loud mare's voice receding behind him.

"Okie Doki Loki! Nice meeting you, stranger!"

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Ponyville's library has most often been a rather quiet place. This is partly due to the diligent efforts of Twilight Sparkle, who, as the town's resident librarian, strives to run her inherited institution much like any other library, with an enhanced emphasis on noise cancellation. The truth that Twilight is not wont to admit, however, is that the major reason for the calm, serene tranquility usually experienced at the library is the sheer lack of traffic it receives. As such, the unicorn is often left with more alone time than would be expected at such an institution; time which she is aptly willing to spend reading, an action during which the true value of running a library, at least in her eyes, is displayed.

The high sun was beating down incessantly on the midday village, raising temperatures in almost every part of Ponyville, including the library. Inside, Twilight once again found herself engaging in her favorite pastime, having lounged herself out on the library floor with her snout buried in the slightly-worn pages of a book. The hot day had, as usual, been a slow one for the library, with nary a customer in sight throughout the morning. Safe in the knowledge of both this and the fact that Spike had lain himself down for another mid-day nap, Twilight Sparkle allowed herself to relax, fully engrossing herself in the words printed on pages before her, partly out of a desire to remain indoors and refrain from braving the heat of the day, and partly because the activity was innately enjoyable for her. She was so absorbed in her studies and so confident in the premise that she would have no clients and no visitors today, that she was startled into a particularly alert state when her ears were suddenly besieged by the sound of her library door being thrust open unexpectedly.

"Twilight? You home? Where are ya, Twi?"

Twilight, standing up and shaking herself to remove the shock of her thoughts being intruded upon by the sudden interruption, picked her book up in her magical aura and slid it into its space on the shelf before stepping out from around the corner and into view of the orange earth pony in the front doorway. "Oh, Applejack. What a pleasant surprise. Please come in."

"Thanks, Twi. Sorry about the interruption, Ah hope Ah didn't scare ya." Applejack stepped further into the library, allowing the door to close behind her. She grinned sheepishly at her unicorn friend and tried to wipe some of the sweat from her mane before approaching her.

"So, what brings you here today, AJ?"

"Twi, Ah've got a problem, and Ah think y'all can help me best."

"What is it, AJ? Is another fungus eating the apple trees?" Twilight's expression visibly brightened and her horn began to glow, her magical essence encompassing itself around the spine of a botany text on a high shelf.

"No, Ah got a different problem than that."

"Termites eating the wood of the barn again?" Her glowing purple aura immediately switched targets to envelop a new tome, 'Ingenious Index of Equestrian Insects'.

"No, Twi. This is more of a… a… personal… problem. Ah was hopin' for yer advice."

Twilight let the book slide back onto the shelf, the purple glow left her horn and she turned to face her friend. "What's wrong, AJ?" Twilight peered curiously at the orange pony, who opened her mouth as if to answer, but closed it soon after, remaining silent. For several moments, the two ponies stood a few mere feet apart, gazing wordlessly into each other's eyes. Twilight was stuck in place. She hadn't taken a good look at her friend's face since she had barged in; she had only caught a fleeting glance of her as she busied herself with her books. As she stared into Applejack's eyes, however, she could see that something was truly wrong. There was no sadness or tears there, but there was worry. There were the telltale signs of distress and a haggard sense of tiredness about her. Applejack's eyelids drooped drowsily even as she tried to keep up her strong, unfazed façade. "It's Rainbow Dash, isn't it?"

Applejack sighed, the expulsion of her breath seeming to carry away all the energy that the normally strong pony usually displayed. Applejack seemed to deflate as she sighed and hung her head. Twilight felt an instant pang of worry that Applejack had been overworking herself again, but said nothing as Applejack turned her gaze back up towards her, staring up at her out of her tired, green eyes. Applejack looked exhausted, but the look in her eyes seemed to show for all of Equestria that her stress was emotional, and not physical. "How obvious is it, Twi?"

"A little bit. What's wrong? Is she depressed again?"

"No."

"She hasn't gotten herself hurt, has she?"

"Nope."

"She isn't becoming distant from others or anything like that?"

"No, Twi. That's just it. She seems perfectly happy. She's been upbeat fer months, ever since she moved in with me, even."

"So what's the problem?"

"Ah don't understand it, Twi. She seems happier than ever, but Ah can't leave her. It's like she never wants ta be alone, she's always tryin' to be at mah side whenever she can. She works the farm with me every day, she sleeps next ta me every night, Ah even had to sneak outta the house and run all the way here just to get enough time ta ask you about it."

Twilight couldn't help but snicker. She brought a hoof up to her mouth in an attempt to keep her composure, but her action earned a glare from the orange pony anyway. "Let me get this straight. You're asking me for help because your marefriend wants to spend time with you?"

"It ain't funny, Twi. Ah think she's getting' too attached ta me, she wants ta be with me all the time. I don't like it."

"You don't like spending time with her?"

"What? No! O' course not! Ah love her, Twilight. Ah love her as much as a member o' mah family and probably even more. That's why Ah don't like it, it worries me. Ah'm worried about her. Ah love spendin' time with her, but Ah think she's becomin' obsessed. Ah don't think it's healthy for her. Ah'm scared, Twilight."

Twilight stared ahead for a few seconds, her mirthful grin having fallen almost immediately to a perplexed frown. "What exactly are you afraid of?"

"Ah'm scared she's still sick. What if… what if she really is obsessed with me? What if… what if she can't bear to leave me alone because she still gets sad when she isn't around me? What if she's just usin' me to distract herself from her own sadness?" Applejack fell to the floor, letting her body rest on her weary legs as she took deep, ratcheting breaths.

Alarmed, Twilight rushed over to her friend, kneeling down to look closely at her. "Applejack? Are you… are you Ok?"

"No. No Ah'm not, Twilight. Ah'm worried sick. Ah promised… Ah promised her after… after it happened that I would try to fix her. What if… what if Ah got it wrong, Twi? What if tellin' her Ah love her was the wrong thing to do? What if a relationship wasn't what she needed? What if bein' her marefriend is just givin' her a distraction? What if Ah'm wrong and Ah can't fix her?"

"Well… she must believe that you saved her life, AJ. And she loves you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah. Ah know she does, Ah can see it in her eyes every time she looks at me. It's just… It's just not normal, Twi. She just isn't actin' like herself, and Ah'm worried. Ah… Ah want the old Rainbow Dash back." Applejack's breaths were almost gasps, and Twilight could tell she was fighting back sobs.

Twilight reached out to embrace her friend, wrapping her hooves around her orange neck and letting Applejack rest her head on her shoulder. "We all do, AJ."

"Ah can't stand it, Twi. Why did she… why did she even have to… to… to try to… do it? Everything made so much more sense before she… before she tried to… to…"

"I know. I know, Applejack. Everything did make more sense back then. But… I guess… I guess what's happened has happened. If we dwell on it, we'll never fix anything. We need to move on."

"But Ah can't move on, Twi. Ah can't forget it. Every time Ah look at her, Ah can't help but see her lying there, broken, not breathing, in that field. Every time Ah look at her, Ah feel like there's somethin' still wrong with her, and Ah feel like it's mah fault."

"It's not your fault, AJ. An experience like will change anypony, you can't blame yourself."

"But Ah can't help it, Twilight. Maybe… maybe if Ah wasn't distractin' her all the time, maybe she'd be able to get over it. She doesn't act sad around me, but Ah think that's because she's still afraid o' bein' alone. Maybe if Ah wasn't with her all the time, she wouldn't be afraid." Applejack pulled herself out of the hug, resting her chin on her front leg contemplatively for a moment before standing up again.

"Do you think it would help if you spent some time apart, if you let her get more used to being without you?"

"Ah don't know, Twi. Ah just don't know. Ah get worried whenever Ah'm away from her. Ah can't stand ta see her sad, and Ah'd hate ta think that she'd be scared without me."

"Well, AJ. If you never do anything about it, the situation will never change."

"Ah know, Twi. Ah should probably get back there before she starts to worry." Applejack sighed again, suddenly looked very tired once more, before she inhaled deeply and seemed to gain confidence from seemingly nowhere. Twilight understood this at once. Applejack didn't want to appear weak outside. Just before she was about to put her hoof to the latch and exit into the summer air, Applejack turned to face her unicorn friend again. "Thanks fer yer help, Twi. It means a lot ta me."

"Come on, AJ. What are friends for?"

Applejack chuckled vainly at this, smiling despite herself. "Ah guess yer right, Twi… Oh, and Twi?"

"Yeas, Applejack?"

"Please don't tell anyone about this. Ah don't want the others knowin' and getting' worried too."

"I promise." Twilight half-smiled, watching as Applejack tipped her hat and made her way out the door and into the bright sunlight once more. Twilight sighed as the door closed behind her friend. For lack of a better idea, she returned to her book, settling herself back down on the rug, but she couldn't get absorbed into the story. She was too distracted. Thought of Applejack and Rainbow Dash swam through her mind even as she tried to block them out with her reading. It was no use. Sighing again, Twilight gazed up at the high ceiling and questioned the emptiness. "Why is it that your best friends can bring you the most stress?"

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The hot summer sun beat down upon her as she made her way down the back road that would lead her home. Applejack looked down at the gravel surface dejectedly, thoughts of one particular pony occupying her mind completely. She certainly didn't want Rainbow Dash to worry, so she knew it was important for her to return soon.

The sight of a familiar grove of trees, laden with unripe fruit, brought relief to her. She made for the copse of tress, which marked the very edge of the orchard on this side of her property. She knew she was close to home now, and she even knew a shortcut through the orchard. The cool shadows of the tall, leafy trees shielded her from the intense sunlight as she passed beneath them, sighing in relief for more than one reason.

The shaded space underneath the apple trees provided far more comfort than the open air, allowing Applejack to make quick time as she weaved her way through the familiar meandering pathways and clearings of the orchard. She trotted quickly; beating a path over the land she had known her whole life. Her intimate knowledge of the family farm gave her knowledge of every possible short-cut, and she made good use of it to get home as fast as she could. Sparkles of sunlight glinted through the leaves, cutting through the shadowy space beneath the groves. Finally, the shadows gave way as she exited the orchard, finally reaching the clearing her family's farm had been built in. Across the open space, sunlight could be seen glinting off the windows of the farmhouse. The cozy abode provided a sense of relief to the earth pony as she trotted up to the porch.

She slowed as she reached the wooden slat porch deck, stopping altogether before the front door. She removed her hat, pausing to wipe the sweat from her brow and allow her breathing to normalize after her long trot. Placing her hat back atop her head, she shook herself and smiled brightly before putting a hoof to the latch and opening the front door. The wood-lined entryway was darker than the outside as well as cooler, which provided welcome relief to Applejack as she stepped inside. The door clicked as it closed behind her, the noise sounding into the house proper. Applejack was immediately greeted by the sound of clopping hooves, immediately followed by a cyan face and rainbow mane, which poked around the corner from the kitchen and seemed to immediately brighten upon seeing her.

"Hi, Applejack!" Rainbow Dash rushed forward, smiling brightly as she approached her marefriend. She threw her forelegs around the orange pony's neck, hugging her warmly and leaning in to deliver a gentle kiss. Her magenta eyes shone as she pulled away. "I missed you."

"Ah missed ya too, Dashie."

"Where did you go?"

"Ah just had to go down and talk to Twilight about some farm stuff."

"Ok." Rainbow Dash gave her partner another quick kiss before they both walked out into the kitchen. "I woke up and you weren't there, I was getting a little worried."

"Ah'm sorry, Rainbow. Ah just had ta get a couple questions answered at the library. Are Macintosh and Applebloom awake yet?"

"Yeah. Mac went to work on something in the shed and Applebloom went out to play. I've been here alone." Rainbow Dash turned slightly away as she spoke, but Applejack clearly saw the pegasus cringe slightly.

"You Ok, Sugarcube?" Applejack reached up with a foreleg, laying a hoof across her marefriend's shoulder.

Rainbow Dash looked up. Her magenta eyes shone as she gazed into Applejack's green. Applejack smiled for the other pony, who reached out and embraced her, laying her head upon her shoulder and nuzzling affectionately. Applejack smiled at the display, but inwardly she worried. Something was still wrong with Rainbow Dash. There was no doubt about that in her mind now, especially after seeing the pegasus react to the word 'alone'. Still, Applejack patted her lover on the back, holding her gently and comforting her as she had done many times over the past few months. Rainbow Dash reveled in the contact, lifting her head to whisper into the earth pony's ear. "I love you."

"Ah love you too, Dash." Applejack smiled as they pulled apart, seeing a similar expression mirrored in the face of her partner. "How 'bout somethin' to eat, Sugarcube?"

"You haven't had breakfast yet?"

"Nope. You?"

"I haven't either. I was waiting for you."

"Well, Ah'll go make us some…" Both ponies jumped as Applejack was cut off by the sound of rapping at the wooden door. They turned from the kitchen to peer back at the doorway they had just left moments before. They looked quizzically at each other before both advanced upon the door, reaching out to open it before further knocking came.

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The wider road through Sweet Apple Acres is not as well-shaded as the interior of the orchard, and the distance covered by any pony moving from Ponyville to the farm is longer along the road than any shortcut through the orchard. However, for those who have not the experience to navigate the oft-unforgiving interior of the orchard, the road offers a clear path to follow to the farm. The same is true for those who may have had the experience to navigate the orchard before, but for whom time and repressed memories had shrouded that skill in the dark of mental remission. In the full heat of high noon, most of the ponies in town had retreated to their cooler dwellings, and only one soul braved the lonely stretch of path between town and farm. In the heat, the tall brown stallions movements were strained, but still conveyed the resilience of a body that had always been well-toned, even if it had been more so in his earlier years.

The worst of the sunlight was shielded from his face by the hood he had worn stretched over his head. Beneath that shadow, his yellow eyes focused on the trail ahead. He maintained his stoic pace forward, each hoof-fall sounding off the path surface. Gradually, the thick orchard became more recognizable, and he began to remember his way even clearer. Rounding a bend in the trail, he saw in the distance for the first time the complex of buildings that made up the Apple Family's farm. A fence now flanked him on either side as he continued on towards the structures. As he drew closer, they came more into focus, and he was able to read the words on the sign placed over the path at the edge of the clearing. 'Sweet Apple Acres'

"Well, that's new." The stallion chuckled to himself as he continued under the archway and towards the farmhouse. The rest of the buildings had not changed from his memories, and he found his hoofsteps falling into line along a path he had not traveled in many years: a path that led straight to the front door of the Apple Family Abode. He walked onto the wooden slat constructed porch, his hooves sounding distinctly as he did so, approaching the door. He raised one front hoof to knock, rapping on the wooden façade several times before stopping to wait.

It was not long before the door swung open inward. The stallion found himself standing face-to-face with an orange earth pony mare with piercing green eyes, a tied-back mane and tail similar in shade to his, and a familiar Stetson hat. She was a mare he instantly recognized, even if she was many years aged from the last time he had laid eyes upon her. "Hello, Applejack."

"Sorry, pard'ner, 'fraid Ah don't know ya. Can Ah ask how ya know mah name?"

"Come now, Applejack. I'd have thought that you, of all ponies, would recognize me." The stallion smiled from underneath the shade of his hood, before reaching up and removing it completely. The full light of the sun fell upon his messy blonde hair and pale brown face, his golden eyes glinting in the light as he fell into full view of the perplexed mare.

Seconds passed without sound as the confusion on Applejack's face turned form confusion to recognition before descending into incredulity. She appeared to shrink back from the doorway as she stared on the stallion before her, her voice quavering as she finally answered.

"D… Dad?"

Chapter 2

He had been gone for years. Many of those who remembered him from his days on the farm had either left, or were getting on in years. Only a few of the older ponies of Ponyville had been around to meet him during his tenure, and out of those ponies, even fewer remembered him. Even as so few had known him, many had let his memory slip from their minds, only to be replaced by the various events they had experienced in the many years since he had left. For most, he had become unimportant. For years, only the elderly matriarch of the Apple Family had anticipated, and feared, the possibility of his return. Her grandchildren, however, had not shared these concerns with her, so when time finally caught up with her, her anxiety left alongside her. Nopony else had even expected for him to return, least of all his children.

For this reason, Applejack was left nearly speechless. She had been but a young filly when she had last seen him; she hadn't even received her cutie mark when he left. Despite the years that had passed and her belief that she would never see him again, however, Applejack had nonetheless remembered him and recalled almost perfectly what he looked like. As she stared out the open front door at the stallion's face, there could be no doubt to her who she was looking at. She blinked several times, her mouth opening and closing as if to say something, but no words came out. She stared at him and he returned her gaze, neither speaking.

He looked worn and tired. There were bags visible underneath his golden eyes, but they still shone with a glimmer of life. His blonde mane was flecked with strands of grey, and his warm brown coat seemed faded from age. His body seemed weathered by time as well, but the sinewy muscles of his hind legs still displayed the effects of his many seasons bucking trees on the farm. He was visibly getting on in years, but from his appearance, his old strength had not left him. His mouth had curled into a half smile, and he stood solidly on the porch, his swishing pale blonde tail the only display of his slight impatience. "May I come in?"

Applejack, her voice still silent, backed up further into the hallway to allow her father admittance over the threshold. He stepped into the house, walking forward through the entryway and into the kitchen. Rainbow Dash stood there, blinking in confusion at both her marefriend and a pony she had never met before; a pony she could swear Applejack had just called 'Dad'. For several moments, all three ponies stood about the room, both mares staring blankly at the lone stallion.

The silence was oppressive. After several moments, the tall stallion turned from his daughter to get a better look at the other pony in the room. The cyan pegasus mare's magenta eyes blinked incredulously back up at him. Finally, the stallion spoke, shattering the silence with his low voice. "I've never met you before, might I ask your name."

"I'm Rainbow Dash." She shook her head in confusion. This wasn't making any sense to her. If this stallion really was Applejack's father, why had he just shown up at random? She couldn't keep her eyes off of him. It was as if he didn't belong; he had seemingly shown up out of the blue, and she had to know why. "Are you… are you really…"

"Shut up." Both ponies turned in surprise to see Applejack, her confused stare gone and replaced by an angry glare. "Shut up. Both o' ya." Taking a deep breath, she turned to face her father. "Ah thought you were dead."

"I've been gone for so long; I've thought the same thing many times." Her father hung his head, letting his gaze fall so that he was no longer looking into her eyes.

"What do ya think you're doin', showin' up here unannounced?"

"I guess I just wanted to see my kids again."

"After all these years?" Applejack glared daggers at him, advancing upon the taller stallion with a few heavy steps. "Maybe ya shouldn't have left in the first place! What were ya thinkin'!

Suddenly, her father, who had seemed so strong and resolute just moments before, fell to the floor. He shook his head, and Applejack noticed for the first time that the shimmer in his eyes had been the light glinting off of unseen tears. It shocked her. He seemed to instantly age several years, having slumped down onto his knees and seemingly burying his face into his fore legs. Applejack cringed and backed off at the sight. "Please… please don't. I've… I've made so many mistakes in my life."

Applejack stared at the whimpering stallion in incredulity. She spoke softly, feeling tears begin to well up in her own eyes. "Ya left. Ya left us and Ah thought ya were dead." She turned away from him, wiping a hoof over her eyes but unable to stem the tide. She walked from the kitchen into the living room, keeping her back towards her father so that he wouldn't see her emotions.

"That… that was my biggest one." The stallion shakily brought himself back up to his hooves and wavered as he watched his daughter recede into the other room. Wearily, he began to follow, leaving a bewildered Rainbow Dash to trot hastily into the room. "I've never made a bigger mistake than the one I made that night."

Applejack sighed as she sat down heavily on the couch as Rainbow Dash crossed the room to take a seat next to her. She looked back up to see the pleading golden eyes of her father, staring back at her from the center of the room, where he sat. "Ya don't need ta remind me. Ah remember perfectly clear."

"I'm sorry. I know I've been gone for years and it probably doesn't mean anything, but I am. I never should have left. I was stupid, selfish, drunk, and I've hated myself every day for it." He closed his eyes, as if fighting back more tears, before hanging his head in further shame. "It's taken me this long just to work up the courage to come back. I've been utterly sick of myself for so long that I couldn't even bear to think sometimes. Sometimes I just felt like giving up and dying, but I always just wanted to see my children again. Just one last time."

Applejack shook her head, the light of anger gone from her eyes. "Ya know what, Dad? When ya first left, when Ah was really little, Ah thought ya were comin' back. Ah thought ya'd only be gone fer a couple days. Well, after you were gone fer a lot longer, Ah gave up hope. Ah thought you were dead and never comin' back. Ah never thought Ah'd see ya again and Ah can't say Ah'm happy ta see ya now. But Ah always wondered one thing. Why? Why did ya leave? Tell me that."

"Applejack? Do you remember the story of how your mother and I met?"

Applejack sat silently for a moment, contemplating the much older stallion as he stared back at her patiently. She turned her eyes to the ceiling, trying to remember, before it suddenly dawned on her. "Ah do. Ah remember ya tellin' us 'bout how ya ran away from home and came ta work on the farm when ya needed money, then ya met mama here."

"Your mother was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before I met her, I was lost and alone. There had been so much wrong with me before I came here that first day. I hated my old family, and I never really thought I found a place where I belonged. But when… but when I met your mother… I just… I just felt like there was finally… finally a place for me."

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The young, spry, brown stallion could already feel the beads of sweat rolling off his brow. His golden-blonde mane was already flecked with drops of perspiration as he labored in the direct sunlight of the unseasonably warm autumn day. Exhaling a deep breath, he planted his hooves into the soft ground for traction and prepared to give his assigned task another attempt. Lifting himself onto his fore legs for a short moment, the stallion mustered up all the strength he could into his rear legs and lunged backward. He struck the sturdy trunk of the tree behind him with a glancing blow, landing his rear hooves back on the ground and turning to watch a disappointingly small number of apples fall from the leafy branches.

"No, no, no, Cider! Yer doin' it all wrong!" From off to the side, a young amber-coated mare with a bouncing red mane approached the stallion. Despite his advantage in size, the hard-working farm mare was able to easily muscle him out of her way, lining herself up with the same tree. In one fluid motion, she delivered a swift kick to the bark, causing a veritable cascade of apples to plummet from the leafy expanse. "And that's how it's done!" The mare grinned in satisfaction.

"Wow." The stallion could only stare at the sight, his gaze falling more upon her hindquarters than anywhere else.

"Ya see? It's all about precision. Ya can't stand too far away or you'll stretch yer legs, and ya can't stand too close or you'll never get enough muscle. Ya gotta hit it square on ta get all the apples."

"Gee. Thanks ma'am, I'll get it next time!"

"Aw, shucks, Cider. Ya'll don't have ta call me "ma'am". Just call me Sweet Apple!"

"Ok, ma-, er… I mean, Sweet Apple. I guess I'll get the hang of things around here eventually. Thank you so much again for getting me this job and a place to stay!"

"It ain't no problem, Cider. We needed help this applebuckin' season anyway, what with Pa not doin' too well and ma and Ah havin' ta hold up th' fort ourselves. Ah'm just glad we got a willin' worker ta come along!"

"Still, it really means a lot to me; especially since I have no money and no other place to live."

"It's no trouble. Ah'm sorry 'bout what happened between you and yer family, but yer welcome ta stay here as long as ya like! Heck, ya'll might even become a regular part of the Apple Family soon enough! We'll have ta change yer name ta 'Apple Cider'!" The smiling mare winked at him before trotting off to their next assigned tree.

The stallion stayed behind momentarily, if only to watch her from behind as she went. "Yeah… I think I'd like that a lot."

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The older, less-virile brown stallion had to wipe a tear from his eye as he finished recounting his tale to the two mares. "I never knew anypony who I cared about so much until I met your mother. She was kind to me when nopony else was, and she was willing to just sit down and talk. I stayed on working here just because I wanted to be with her no matter what. Eventually, I realized that I loved her. The day I asked for her hoof in marriage – and she said yes – was the happiest day in my life. At least, it was until you and Macintosh came along."

Applejack's gaze had softened as she stared at her father from across the room. She didn't know why, but she was beginning to understand him. At least, she thought she was. She knew what was coming next in his story. It was an event no one in the Apple Family had any proclivity to discussing, but it was ever-present on their minds all the same. "And then… and then Applebloom came along, didn't she?"

"Yes. At first… at first we were excited to be having a third foal. I remember you and Macintosh were excited as well. But… but her third pregnancy… it… it was always a troubled one. I… I didn't really think much of all the extra doctor's visits at the time… but… but then… then… that day… that day came…"

====================================================================================

Sweet Apple had always been an excitable, energetic, hard-working mare. Even from her days of fillyhood she had loved to run around and help out in any way on the farm. Even into her adult life her energy hadn't seemed to drain. The birth of two children had done nothing to dampen her spirits, but her third child had exacted a terrible toll on her. Those who had known Sweet Apple in her younger days would not recognize the pale, thinning, weakened pony who stared up from the depths of a hospital bed, and even if they did, they would have seen her as but a shell of her former self.

Her eyes, however, her happy, caring, green eyes, still carried the spark of life that had endeared her to family and friends alike for years. It was those sparkling green eyes that now stared forlornly up at the stallion she was proud to call her husband. "Please, Cider. Ah want ya to listen ta me. Please listen ta me." The brown stallion could only nod his acknowledgement. "Ah'm dyin', honey. Ah know it, and ya know it, too."

"No… No. You… you can't be. You just can't be. You're… you're going to get better."

"No Ah won't, Cider. Ah'm not gonna get better. Ah need ya to do somethin' fer me when Ah'm gone."

"No. You can't leave. You just can't… I… I love you…. I love you too much."

The mare closed her eyes momentarily. To her husband's distress, it seemed a struggle for her to open them again. "P...p-please… C-Cider… p-please… take… take care… of… our children… please…"

A machine, which had stood by her bedside for the duration of the several hours since the operation that had been required to remove her third foal, had kept up a slow, steady rate of beeping to announce to all the room the mare's dwindling heartbeat. In the moment that followed, the machine seemed to go haywire. The sounds went from steady and slow to erratic and unnervingly fast-paced. Sweet Apple drew in a sharp breath as the beeping intensified, her eyelids flying open in response to the sudden increase of blood flow to her severely weakened body. Apple Cider recoiled in horror. "NURSE! DOCTOR! SOMEPONY! HELP! HELP!"

In an instant, several ponies clad in white coats had burst into the room. From another room nearby, the crying of a newborn foal could be heard, the noise only added to the sudden pandemonium of the hospital ward as nurse and doctor ponies clamored and crowded around the deteriorating mare. Apple Cider found himself pushed out of the way, but even over the pandemonium, he could hear a solitary, weakened, voice. "C… Cider… Ah… Ah love you."

It was over before he even had time to register it. The machine emitted a piercing continuous beep. It sounded like a scream to him. It was punctuated by the sounds of various medical ponies trying in vain to revive their patient – his wife.

It didn't make sense. He couldn't understand. In a flash, he was running from the room. He shook his head back and forth as he ran, his eyes closed. He couldn't see where he was going and he didn't care. All he knew was he wanted to get as far away as possible. He couldn't face the room. He couldn't face himself. He couldn't face the garish nightmare of a reality his life had become.

===================================================================================

"I didn't know what to do. It was just too much for me. I started drinking, I started staying out late at nights, but most of all, I started avoiding everypony else. I couldn't stop thinking about her, about how the best thing in my life was ripped away from me, just like that. I could hardly bear to see Macintosh and you because you reminded me too much of her. I never even wanted to see your sister because… because… because I blamed her." Apple Cider fell silent. His head down again.

For a while, the pervasive silence reigned supreme. None of the three ponies said anything as they all thought quietly to themselves. Rainbow Dash was fidgeting in her seat, but Applejack didn't notice. Her focus was still on her father. After several moments, he looked up again. Their eyes met for a moment, and he took a deep breath and began to speak again.

"I saw her as the reason for your mother's death. So I blamed her and I spent every evening drinking until I couldn't feel the pain anymore. Eventually… it just got to be too much. So I left. I left and I could never bring myself to come back. I'm not proud of it, but that's what happened. I've spent so many years hating my life for what it has become, but now… now I finally realize… I finally realize it's all my fault. My life is what it is because I made it that way. I never should have left. I messed up my own life because I was being stupid. And in doing so… in doing so I never did what she told me to. She told me to take care of you; to be a father, and I've failed her."

"Is that why you're back? Because ya want ta apologize?"

"I'm back because I've finally decided that I can't live alone anymore. I can't live in denial of my own actions. I want… I want nothing more than to make things right, but I know I can't. I want to make things right, but most of all… most of all I wanted to see you kids again. I know I can never be a proper father for you, but I want you to know how much I wish I could've been. I guess I've been as close to dead as possible these past few years, but life just keeps going on; and now… now I… I don't want to live it alone."

Applejack had to reach up with a fore hoof to wipe her eyes once again. Slowly, she got up from her spot and advance towards the kneeling figure of her father. "D-Dad? Do… do ya… do ya really mean that?"

The stallion made as if to respond, but was quickly cut off by the abrupt opening and slamming shut of a door. All three ponies turned to the source of the noise as a new voice sounded through the farmhouse. "AJ? Have ya seen mah extra hammer anywh-" Big Macintosh had his train of thought suddenly and violently derailed as he peered around the corner into the living room. Much like his sister, he almost instantly recognized the strange other stallion in his Living Room, but out of sheer shock and incredulity he remained rooted to the floor, utterly speechless. Time seem to stand still as nopony said a word, but the cogs of Big Macintosh's mind were turning rapidly. In another instant, his jaw, which had fallen slack from shock, was drawn up into a snarl and his brow furled as he locked gazes with a stallion he hadn't seen in many years. "You."

For much of his life, especially after his father had left, Big Macintosh had accumulated responsibility for many of the particularly strenuous chores that came with living on a farm. The combination of having this daunting workload thrust upon him from a young age and the passage of many years of such labor had toned his body to what could be considered by most to be prime physical condition for any stallion. As a result, his imposing figure now advanced upon the crouching form of his father, who he quite literally towered over, despite the elder stallion having engaged in much the same workload over his lifetime. Apple Cider, however, in the years since his departure, had fallen somewhat out of shape, and consequently found himself shrinking back from the approach of his own son. The red stallion had anger in his eyes, a fact that in and of itself unsettled the elder.

Both stallions were subsequently surprised when an interposer came between them, halting Big Mac's advance and forcing his hard-set gaze to falter. Applejack stepped calmly between her brother and father, moving forward to face Big Macintosh as he glanced down at her. She glared back up to meet his gaze. "Big Mac. Kitchen. Now."

Shooting a furtive glance between his sister and their unexpected visitor, Big Macintosh sighed before walking backwards around the corner into the kitchen, Applejack right on his tail. They disappeared around the corner, leaving Apple Cider alone with Rainbow Dash. She fidgeted. Her eyes flitted about the room, seemingly doing everything in their power to avoid direct eye contact with the strange other pony. Finally, without saying a word, Rainbow Dash got up and trotted into the kitchen after her marefriend. "AJ? AJ, I…"

"Not now, Dash. Could ya… could ya please just go upstairs and wait fer me? Ah've got some things ta sort through." Applejack looked at her marefriend with pleading eyes, giving her a wan half-smile when she turned and trotted up the stairs. Applejack turned back to face her brother and frowned again. "Big Mac, Ah can explain."

"No need. Ah've seen everything Ah need to."

"You haven't heard his side o' the story."

"Don't need to. Ah remember what he did well and clear enough."

"He wants ta make up fer it."

"He can never make up for what he did."

"How do you know?"

"You were too young, Applejack."

"Too young fer what?"

"Too young to remember what he did. He would come home late at night and say terrible things ta Granny Smith. And he hated Applebloom. Ah remember how he called her 'that thing' and said he wanted ta 'get rid o' her'. Ah ain't lettin' him near her now."

"Ponies can change, Mac."

"AJ. Ah don't want him in this house."

"He's just tryin' ta get his life back together."

"Ah don't want him in this house."

"This is mah house too."

"Ah'm older."

"Not by much."

"AJ, Ah don't wanna fight with ya. He can't stay here. 'Specially not with Applebloom around. He'll be horrible to her."

"Ah think he's changed, Mac."

"He's lyin' to you."

"Consarnit, Mac. Ah'm the Element o' Honesty. Ah think Ah can tell when somepony's lyin' ta me." Applejack glared at him, stamping her hoof in defiance.

"Ah think ya just want ta believe so much that ya might get yer daddy back that yer willin' to believe anyhtin' he tells ya." Big Macintosh stood up to his full height, staring down at his sister, whose mouth had fallen agape. "Remember what Granny Smith told us? She always said he would come back. She said she was a liar. We never believed her. Well, ya know what? Ah believe her now, and Ah'm not lettin' him stay here."

"He just wants ta be with his family again."

"Ah'm not lettin' him stay here."

"He needs somepony ta help him get his life back in order."

"Ah'm not lettin' him stay here." Big Macintosh tilted his head up and closed his eyes, signaling that he had made up his mind. Applejack could feel her anger boiling. She would not give up so easily.

"Fine. Then Ah'm goin' with him!"

Big Macintosh faltered. He hadn't been expecting this. "Now, AJ, don't go…"

"If he can't stay here, then Ah'm goin' with him. He needs somepony ta help him put his life in order."

"We need you here on the farm."

"There's not too much work in the summer, and Ah'll be back before harvest season."

Big Macintosh sighed in defeat, wiping the sweat off his brow with a hoof. "Ah can't stop ya, can Ah?"

"Nope." Applejack flicked her mane defiantly.

"Fine. Do what ya have to. One question though." Big Macintosh gestured up at the ceiling, causing Applejack to look up as well. "How are ya gonna tell her?" Before receiving an answer, Big Macintosh pushed his way out of the kitchen, stopping at the entrance of the living room to glare at its sole occupant. "You have one night - on the couch. You leave in the mornin'." Snorting his anger, he turned and headed for the front door, slamming it behind him as he went back outside.

Applejack sighed as she gazed up at the ceiling. Slowly, she made her way to the foot of the stairs, glancing up into the darkness at the top in apprehension. She let out a deep breath before beginning the climb. Breaking this news was not going to be easy.

Chapter 3

"But… but AJ… I just… I just don't understand."

Applejack sighed, cringing slightly as she gazed into the confused, questioning face of her marefriend. She tried to look away, but the innocent glinting look in the mare's magenta eyes held her gaze. She found she simply couldn't look away. Applejack sighed again. This certainly wasn't easy, and it was not going very well at all for her so far. "Listen, Rainbow… Ah told ya. Ah'm just gonna leave for a while ta help mah Pa. He needs help, Rainbow, and Ah think Ah'm the only one who can give it to him."

"But why do you have to leave? I… I want you to stay. I want you to stay with me."

Applejack shook her head, trying to avoid the tears that she knew would come if she kept looking the pegasus in the eye. "Ah can't, Dash. Macintosh won't let Pa stay here, so Ah've gotta go with him. It's the only way."

"But why… why are you going anyway? He abandoned you, Applejack. He's not… he's not worth it."

"Ah know it don't make much sense, Rainbow… but… Ah think he's changed. Ah think he wants forgiveness… and Ah'm… Ah'm willin' ta give him one last shot."

"But he… he doesn't need you like I do. I… I love you, Applejack. Please stay with me."

Applejack sighed and momentarily buried her face into her hooves as she lay upon the bed. Her tail swished back and forth across the blankets behind her in agitation as she closed her eyes and tried to think of a way to get her message across. "He's… he's family, Dash. Ah've gotta believe him. Ah'm gonna hafta leave ta help him, but Ah won't be gone long."

"I don't want you to leave."

"Ah know, Sugarcube. Ah'm sorry. Ah'm sorry it has ta be this way, but Ah gotta help mah Pa."

"I don't like him, AJ. I don't trust him. He left you. He…"

"AH KNOW WHAT HE DID!" Applejack jumped up, startling the pegasus with her outburst. Rainbow Dash fell backwards onto her back in shock, unprepared for Applejack's reaction. Applejack turned to look at the other pony – now below her – and immediately felt her sudden burst of anger recede. A few flyaway strands of her golden-blonde mane were blown away from her face by her rapid exhalation as she sighed again, instantly regretting her momentary loss of control. "Ah'm sorry, Dash." She dropped back down to the blankets to lie beside the prone mare.

She rolled over to get a good look at her marefriend. Applejack cringed at the sight of Rainbow Dash's eyes, now glistening with what could only be traces of budding tears. Applejack mentally reprimanded herself for losing her cool. She knew how fragile Rainbow Dash still was, even months now after the fateful day that had thrust them together. "Pl… please, Applejack. I just… I just want to know that you still love me. I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to go away. I love you. I love you too much."

It was too much for Applejack. She hated seeing her marefriend like this, and she hated even more the fact that she herself had brought her condition about. Reaching forward, she gently lay a hoof upon her lover's tender cheek before pulling her close. Applejack stared deep into Rainbow's magenta eyes as she drew her face closer and closer to her own. Their breath mingled in the space between them for a fraction of a second before their lips touched. For a while, they simply pressed their lips into one another, savoring each other's flavor and soaking up the intimate moment. Applejack let relief wash over her as she felt Rainbow Dash expel a pent-up breath through her snout. The pegasus relaxed in her hooves.

Applejack pulled away to allow her lover to rest her head upon her chest. Rainbow Dash reopened her eyes to glance quickly up at her mare's face. Applejack brought her hoof to the pegasus's rainbow mane and played with it absent-mindedly. Rainbow Dash rolled off of her back, shifting so that she lay next to her lover and could reach out and embrace her. She held on tight, burying her face furtively into the earth pony's chest. Applejack just kept stroking her multi-colored mane. "Of course Ah love ya, Dash."

"I'm scared, AJ. I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to leave. I don't want to be alone. I haven't been without you since… since…" Rainbow Dash choked on her words, suddenly finding herself unable to finish her thought. It was too painful.

Applejack saw the pain in her lover's eyes. She immediately wrapped her forelegs around the other pony and drew her even closer. She could feel drops of moisture flitting onto her shoulder, dripping from the pegasus's eyes as she held her. Applejack felt regret welling up in her as she watched the other pony, it hurt to see her pain. She held her even closer, gripping her lithe body against her own and feeling warmth spread between the two of them as their pelts were compressed. "Ah'm sorry. Ah'm so sorry, Dash. Ah love ya too. Ah' so sorry, but Ah gotta leave. Ah won't be long."

Rainbow Dash's breaths came as ratcheting gasps. Applejack loosened her grip slightly, unaware just how tight she had been holding on. Rainbow Dash sniffed loudly and rolled onto her side, still gripping the other mare around the waist. Wiping her eyes off on a patch of orange fur, she looked up into her marefriend's face again. Applejack tried to give her a wan smile, but couldn't hold it. She sighed again as Rainbow Dash laid her head upon Applejack's chest once more. "I don't want to be away from you."

Applejack leaned forward just far enough to plane a light kiss on the other mare's forehead. "Ah know, Dash. Ah don't wanna leave ya either, but sometimes… sometimes a pony has to do something they don't wanna do because they hafta do it. Besides, maybe it'll be better for both of us."

"What… what… what do you mean?" Rainbow Dash looked up, confusion in her eyes as she tried to understand her marefriend's words. Applejack propped her head up, placing a hoof under her lover's chin so she could look right into her eyes.

"Rainbow… you've barely left mah side for more than a few hours at a time for months now. We spend almost every waking moment together, and Ah don't think it's good fer ya."

"But… I love you… I want to be with you."

"Ah know Rainbow, but you can love me without being near me all the time. Ah think… Ah think you're becoming obsessed."

"But… you saved me…"

"Pinkie saved you. Fluttershy saved you. Ah just helped. Why don't ya want ta spend time with them?"

"Because… because I…" Rainbow Dash stopped again, tears welling in her eyes again. Applejack leaned forward to kiss her forehead again. Rainbow Dash drew in a deep breath. "Because I don't feel about them the way I do about you. I don't want to lose you."

"Ah know, Rainbow. But Ah promise you that you won't lose me. Ah love ya too, don't forget that, and don't doubt it. Ah have ta leave, but Ah'll be back. Don't worry."

"I don't want to be alone."

"You won't be. Big Mac and Applebloom will be here, too. You can talk to them too."

"It's not the same."

"Ah know, Dash. But Ah think it's for the best. Ah think it'll be good for ya ta spend some time away from me. Ya need ta be strong, Dash."

"I… I don't think I can."

"Aw…" Applejack grinned slightly, playfully batting at the mare's ear. "Is this the Rainbow Dash Ah know? Not strong enough to spend a few days away from me?"

"I don't feel the same anymore. I don't feel like the strong Rainbow Dash. She's gone."

"No, she ain't." Applejack kissed her marefriend's cheek. "She's right inside ya, Dash. Ah need ya to be strong while I'm gone. Can ya do that for me?"

"I… I guess. You'll… you'll only be a few days, though, right?"

"No more than two weeks, Dash. Ah can't leave the farm for very long anyway. Ah promise Ah'll come back, and then Ah'll spend a whole day wit' ya."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Applejack grinned as she performed the slightly silly motions. Rainbow Dash giggled, a small smile breaking onto her face for the first time in a long while.

"Ok. I'll… I'll try, Applejack."

"Now that's my Dashie." Applejack nuzzled the cyan mare for a few seconds before glancing up from the bed. Her gaze fell upon the window across the room, and she was surprised to see nothing but darkness and twinkling stars staring back at her. Night had fallen without her even knowing it. Applejack glanced back down at Rainbow Dash, who had propped her head up and was staring out the window too.

"AJ?" Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke, turning around to face her lover again.

"Yes, Dash?" Applejack blinked at her, half afraid that she would start crying again, or worse, drag the issue even further out and make her feel even worse about having to leave.

"Can I… can I sleep with you tonight?"

Applejack smiled, chuckling as she glanced quickly at the forlorn, abandoned cloud bed across the room. "O' course ya can, Sugarcube. Besides, Ah need to get my fill o' ya before Ah leave." She playfully rubbed the pegasus's head, mussing her six-hued mane into a frizzy mess. She leaned over to the bedside table and blew the candle out, blinking as the room was plunged into a darkness lit only slightly by the moon's blue glow. She settled into the bed, feeling the familiar sensation of Rainbow Dash's head against her chest once again. She reveled in the sound of her lover's breaths growing shallower and shallower, as they both lay in one another's embrace, finally letting the long, dark tendrils of blissful sleep draw them into their last night together.

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Celestia's sun rose high over the countryside surrounding Ponyville. There was nary a cloud in the sky. Beams of intense light went untethered as they shone down upon the sleepy farm. The scene was bright and cheery, in stark contrast to the mood inside the quaint farmhouse.

The kitchen table was surrounded by ponies, but the conversation that might normally have flowed between the room's occupants was absent. At one end of the table, Apple Cider stood shiftily glancing between Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Rainbow Dash. Macintosh mostly avoided his gaze, unwilling to look at his father except to glare at him. Applejack would look sympathetically up at him momentarily, but she too wouldn't give him her attention very long, returning to her food often. Next to her, Rainbow Dash avoided him entirely, staring intently down at her hooves as she shifted nervously in place. She wouldn't touch her breakfast, whereas Cider had already finished his. The empty plate seemed to be glaring at him just as much as his son was. He was growing increasingly uncomfortable.

He glanced back at his daughter. Applejack could feel his gaze on her even as she ate. Inwardly, she cringed. The situation had grown extremely undesirable. She wished Rainbow Dash would quit moping dejectedly and just eat, but she knew what the pegasus was going through. She wished even more for Big Macintosh to quit acting so angrily, but she knew she probably couldn't change that either. No matter how much she didn't like his behavior, he was still her brother, and Applejack had to admit his argument held some credibility. No matter how much she wanted to believe that he had changed, she was still skeptical of her father's intentions. Secretly, she was glad that Macintosh had sent Applebloom for a sleepover at Carousel Boutique with her friends. It was probably better she wasn't here.

With one last bite of apple strudel, Applejacks plate was clear. She sighed to herself, looking up from the table to see that everypony else's gaze had fallen on her. It was time. "Dad? Are ya… are ya ready ta go?"

Cider shot a single nervous glance at his son before sighing and acquiescing. "As ready as I'll ever be." Silently, the two made their way to the front hallway. Applejack stopped to pick up a set of saddlebags she had packed earlier and slipped them over her shoulders, tightening the strap as she did so. For his part, Cider had once again dressed into his traveling cloak.

For a moment, nervous prangs of uncertainty racked through Applejack as her gaze flipped from her father, standing in the doorway now, to her brother and marefriend, who had just left the kitchen. "Can ya give us a moment, Dad?" Silently, Cider slipped out through the door, exiting onto the porch and allowing the thick wooden slab to shut itself. Applejack trotted back from her position by the threshold, sidling up to Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash with a forced smile. "Well… Ah guess this is goodbye."

"Are ya sure ya wanna do this, AJ?" Big Mac's earlier anger had been replaced by a look of concern.

Applejack reached up to give her brother a tight hug. "O' course Ah'm sure, Mac. Ah'm gonna help him, no matter what."

Big Macintosh hugged his sister back, his normal tough façade breaking down momentarily as he held her. "Ah'm worried about ya, AJ. Ah don't trust him, and Ah just want ya to be safe."

"Come on, Mac. Don't worry about me. Ah'll be back in time for harvest season."

"Ah… Ah love ya, little sis." Big Macintosh planted a kiss on the top of his sister's head, earning a blush from the slightly smaller pony.

"Ah love ya too, Mac." Applejack squeezed him for a moment more before letting go and turning to Rainbow Dash. "Ah love both of ya."

In a sudden, unexpected burst of speed, Rainbow Dash rushed up to Applejack and pressed her lips to her partner's before the earth pony even had time to register her attack. Applejack's eyelids flew wide in shock for a moment before they settled down in bliss. Her momentary surprise gone, Applejack pressed just as hard back into Rainbow Dash, their mouth's locking into each other as their tongues grappled for dominance. They could very easily have continued this, feeding off of each other's pleasure and energy, for hours, had it not been for the exaggerated cough Big Macintosh gave. As it were, the two ponies broke apart as soon as it dawned on them that they were being watched, blushing madly.

Rainbow Dash grinned stupidly before wrapping her fore legs around her marefriend. "Just something to remember me by."

Applejack smiled as she hugged the mare back, nuzzling her lovingly with a cheek as well. As much as it pained her to leave Rainbow Dash, she took some comfort in the fact that the other mare didn't seem to be crying anymore. "Ah could never forget you, Dashie."

Rainbow Dash pulled away slightly to look Applejack in the eye. "Promise?"

"Ah promise." Applejack kissed the pegasus on the nose, giggling as a blush once again flushed over cyan cheeks. "Ah love you, Rainbow."

"I love you too, AJ. I'm… I'm gonna miss you… a lot."

"Don't worry, Dash. Ah'll be back before ya know it." Applejack gave her a final kiss on the cheek before they separated. Finally, she turned around and trotted towards the door. She put a hoof to the latch, pushing so that the thick wooden panel swung open. Before she left, she turned around to look at her brother and marefriend one last time. She smiled for them. "Ah'll see you soon."

She trotted outside, shut the door behind her, and she was gone.

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A breeze rolled through the open window and fluttered the multicolored locks of Rainbow Dash's mane. As soon as Applejack had left, Rainbow Dash had galloped up the stairs, now coming to rest in Applejack's room, propped up on her cloud bed and staring out through the window she had just thrown open. She strained to see her marefriend as she receded down the road into town, growing smaller and smaller as she and the looming figure of her father drew further away. Rainbow Dash sighed as she reached up to wipe a tear from her eye. It was going to be a long few weeks.

================================================================================

The two had taken the long road through the orchard mostly in silence, opting not to say a word to each other as they walked. Finally, they reached the bridge that led into Ponyville proper. They both walked across, and Applejack found herself among many other ponies she knew fairly well. They all seemed to quiet down and stare as they passed, many of them still clueless to the identity of the stranger she walked with. It unnerved Applejack slightly to see each pony drop their conversation and turn to stare as they passed by.

Applejack smiled at them, desperate to make them understand that nothing was wrong, but even more desperate to appease the growing sense of worry that had knotted up in the bottom of her stomach. She wasn't sure what it was, but she could swear there was something she had forgotten. It troubled her.

The revelation hit her with enough force to throw off her concentration and make her stumble for several paces. 'Of course!' she suddenly remembered what had been plaguing her mind only a few minutes prior. 'Applebloom! How could Ah forget?' Shaking herself, she turned to her father, who had stopped and given her a concerned look when she tripped. "Listen, Dad. Ah've got somethin' ta take care of in town. Ah'll meet ya out by the edge of town, Ok?" Her father nodded his agreement and resumed walking. When they reached the main road, he turned down it, heading towards the edge of the small town while Applejack trotted off in the direction of Ponyville's own signature dress shop.

Arriving, she knocked on the purple wood of the door and sat back to wait. Her ears were immediately met with the sound of clopping hooves as somepony rushed towards the door. In an instant, it was thrust open to reveal the beaming face of Rarity. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything… Oh, hello Applejack! Just what brings you here this fine morning, Darling?"

"Hi, Rarity. Can Ah talk ta Applebloom fer a moment? It's important."

"Absolutely. They're in back."

"Thanks, Rare." Applejack strode into the shop, past her unicorn friend and into the back room. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were there, gathered suspiciously around what appeared to be a set of blueprints.

Scootaloo, her back to the elder pony, jumped up, pointing a hoof animatedly at the documents splayed out before her. "Look, all I'm saying is it needs more power. If the trajectory is supposed to put us safely in the lake, we'll need this thing to have more muscle or else we'll fall short."

"Do Ah even wanna know?" Scootaloo whirled around and all three fillies fixed their gazes upon the orange mare as she strode into the room.

Applebloom jumped up and rushed forward. "Hey sis, we're tryin' ta earn our catapultin' cutie marks!"

Applejack sighed. "Y'all be careful now, ya hear? Applebloom, Ah've got something' ta tell ya."

"What is it, AJ?"

"Ah have ta leave for uh… a business trip. Yeah. A business trip. For the farm. It's pretty last minute, but Ah hafta go and Ah'm gonna be gone fer a few weeks." Applejack attempted to smile, but her sheepish grin very nearly betrayed her fib. It was hard enough for her to lie in the first place, but she especially hated doing it to a family member. Thankfully, Applebloom seemed to be buying it. Applejack told herself it was all for the better. She couldn't have Applebloom know her father was in town, after all. That would just lead to more problems.

"Ok, AJ. Ah'll seeya when ya get back!" Applebloom jumped up to give her sister a quick hug before rejoining her friends. Applejack sighed in relief. Lingering to steal one final glance at her little sister, Applejack turned and trotted out the door, Rarity following on her heels. They both stopped outside, allowing the door to shut behind them. Applejack turned to face the pure-white unicorn.

"Listen, Applejack. I don't claim to know much about running a farm… but I don't think you really are going on a business trip. Would you mind informing me what really is going on?"

Applejack sighed. "Was it that obvious, Rare?"

"I'm afraid so, Darling." Rarity gave her friend a sympathetic frown.

"Listen, Rarity…. Don't… don't tell Applebloom about this but… Mah Pa's back in town."

"Your father? You mean the same one who…"

"Yes. Him. That's why Ah don't want AB knowin' about him. It would just turn bad real fast if she knew."

"But, Applejack, darling, wherever are you going?"

"Ah'm goin' with him to his place fer a couple weeks. He needs help, and Ah'm gonna help him get his life back in order."

"But after what he did to you? Darling, you can't possibly be serious."

"He's family, Rarity. Ah think he's changed, and he needs help. But… please, Rarity. You can tell the girls where Ah am if they ask, but please don't tell Applebloom. Ah don't want her worryin' 'bout me."

"I promise, Applejack." Rarity still looked concerned. Applejack smiled to assuage her fears before she turned to leave. "Oh, and Applejack!" The orange mare spun around on her hooves to face the white unicorn again. "Do be careful."

"Ah will, Rarity. Don't you worry none."

===================================================================================

There are many ways for the citizens of Equestria to cross long distances. Trains crisscross the landscape, especially in desert areas, ready to take passengers on a speedy, if questionably comfortable, ride to where they need to go. Trains, however, are limited in where they can travel by the tracks they must ride on. As a result of this, many places on the map have no rail service, either because they are just too remote or because they just lack tracks for some other reason. Another problem with trains is that they cost money, and some ponies are simply either unable or unwilling to pay the bits required to endure a lurching ride to their destination.

For those ponies who choose to go without such vehicular modes of transportation, several options still exist. Of course, any pegasus pony will readily state that flying is the only way to travel, but even a pegasus with the most stamina will begin to grow tired and have their wings start to ache after any seriously long flight. This, however, is a moot point to ponies who do not even possess wings, and as such, they are usually left with only one feasible option for their mode of transport, provided they don't have access to such devices as hot-air balloons, hoof-built helicopters, or traveling, wheeled cider-factories. These ponies are usually resigned to walk.

This was exactly the situation both Cider and Applejack found themselves in as they made the journey from Ponyville to Cider's own home. They had begun their long walk early in the day, but as midday approached and shadows grew short, Applejack found herself wishing for some sort of protection from the hot summer sun. She mentally cursed herself for not having the foresight to bring anything capable of producing shade, and was forced to saunter along in her father's wake, letting him lead the way to whatever small town he now called home.

Of course, they had to stop multiple times along the way for water, and Applejack usually took each occasion to grab an apple or other treat from one of her saddle bags. After all, she reasoned, she would have to keep up her strength for such a long journey in the sweltering heat. The road was long, and soon enough, the sun had begun to dip low towards the horizon, casting its rays at a progressively lower angle and turning the Equestrian sky from blue to varied orange and red hues. These gradually faded into purple as the glowing orb of the day sank even lower, bringing with it the pervasive heat. This was a welcome relief to the orang pony, who started to worry less about over-exertion even as the two were forced to pick up their pace by the oncoming darkness.

No matter how difficult the journey on hoof seemed to be, however, and no matter how focused she was on her surroundings, or her destination, or the idle chit-chat she occasionally engaged in with her father, one thing always remained lodged in the back of her mind. Try as she might, she could not shake the crippling worry she felt for Rainbow Dash. Her mind was racked with images of the cyan pegasus: images of her alone, crying, and even worse. 'Ah hope Rainbow is doin' Ok.' As she struggled with her thoughts, her gaze wandered to the horizon, where the last sliver of daylight was just edging its way out of sight. Her hooves were aching and darkness seemed to be setting in with rapidly increasing speed. 'Ah hope we get there soon.'

Chapter 4

It was well after nightfall when Applejack and her father finally arrived in the small hamlet of Manesville. Manesville, were it not for its entirely equine population, could very well be dubbed a 'one-horse town'. As it stood, the actual population had never risen above two dozen ponies. This gave the town, no more than an outpost, really, a peculiar, and not entirely unbeneficial, distinction. Being populated entirely by only the hardiest and most self-sufficient ponies, and playing host to the meager number of farmers who managed to scrape their living off of the surrounding countryside, the town had become a secluded place where everypony mostly minded their own business. As a result, the village had become a magnet for vagrants and wanderers; life-hardened stallions and mares who had nowhere else to go.

Needless to say, the bar in town did marvelous business. Cider had, out of necessity, kept himself alive through the sale of his namesake home-brew to the bar-owner. It was through this business relationship that he had not only scraped together sufficient funds, but also had incurred a generous bar-tab, which, on many a lonely night, he had gratefully squandered in his many attempts to drown out his sorrows.

The town, if it could even be called that, was not much to be seen even in the daytime. Aside from the bar and a dilapidated store, which carried the basic necessities of food and farm supplies, only a few dreary, run-down houses of questionable vacancy lined the single gravel street. Even the stones that had once paved this lone thoroughfare evidenced a general deteriorated condition. Numerous generations of wandering, roaming, ponies' hooves had crushed and cracked the stones into little more than pebbles and a fine, chalky dust. Whenever the wind picked up, which was often at random due to the area's complete lack of a weather-team, the dust would billow into low-flying clouds that eventually resettled, coating nearly every surface in a layer of powder. A general lack of interest in maintenance allowed this dust to pile up, contributing even further to the pseudo-abandoned look and feel that the eclectic group of structures had acquired.

As unimpressive, and at worst, repulsive, as it looked during day, the night was no better. There was barely a light on for miles when Applejack and her father, weary after an excruciatingly long and undeniably warm journey, finally arrived. In fact, the only illumination provided, save for the moon and stars, which gave the scene a dull and entirely unflattering bluish glow, was from the candlelight that managed to filter through the grimy, stained windows of the tavern as their glow provided the necessary light to allow the popular establishment to cater to stragglers well into the wee hours.

As tired as she was, and as aching as her hooves were, Applejack would have given anything for the chance to stop for a break. She was, for this reason, somewhat grateful when her father led them first to this, the only lit building in town. Despite her misgivings about the establishment, she was more than willing to take the chance for a break in their journey. The bar was dimly lit by only a few candles, and even at this late hour, several rough-and-tumble ponies remained, holding the fort well into the night. The wood paneling on the walls had certainly seen better days, but the low light of the room did much to hide the décor's dilapidated condition.

As Cider strode up towards the bar, Applejack followed closely by his side, her eyes sweeping the sparsely-occupied room nervously as she walked. She barely noticed his conversation with the bartender as she took in the sight around her. Truthfully, the sight of so many tough-looking ponies had set her nerves on edge, and she found herself wishing more and more that they had just continued on to their destination instead of making this detour. With concern plainly evident in her eyes, she glanced back to see that her father, still standing next to her, had unceremoniously had a chipped glass of some cloudy brown liquid deposited in front of him. Applejack, of course, knew exactly what this was, and immediately felt a spike of worry jolt its way through her heart as she saw him grasp the glass and take a heavy sip.

"Dad? Are you… are you sure we should… be here?"

Cider gulped down the first mouthful of his drink and shuddered momentarily before clearing his throat to answer. "We'll leave soon. I just need a quick pick-me-up before we go."

Applejack's gaze once again shifted nervously about the room. She eyed each pony with suspicion. Most were dull shades of brown and grey. The normal, colorful shades of pony colors seemed undeniably, and disturbingly, absent from this place. Applejack felt as if her stomach had been tied into a knot. They were all very big, and they didn't look too friendly either. "Are ya… are ya sure it's safe?"

"About as safe as can be in this town…" Cider glanced up from his drink and caught his daughter's gaze, watching as her eyes swept the room even as she spoke. "Oh, you mean them? They're no bother. If you mind your own business, they'll mind theirs."

While his response had been better than nothing, Applejack didn't feel any better. She kept a wary alertness and stayed on the tips of her hooves. She wished he would hurry up and be done. She still didn't like the look of this place, and still didn't entirely trust the present crowd to mind their own business at all.

She was relieved, therefore, when her father finally took a last swig of his drink and replaced the glass to the hardwood countertop. He nodded to the bartender, who picked up the empty glass and began wiping it down absent-mindedly with a dishrag, and tapped Applejack on the shoulder. Applejack sighed her gratitude and led him out of the establishment with all possible haste. It was not until she crossed the threshold and took in a deep lungful of the crisp night air, tinged with the scent of the open country and carrying with it numerous unpleasant particles of dust, that she even realized she had been holding her breath at all. Her hooves crunched against the small pebbles and chips of rock that made up the under-maintenanced road as she walked. She kept up a brisk pace, keen to put as much distance between her and the bar as possible. It wasn't as if she didn't think she could handle herself in a fight, but those ponies had unnerved her to the point of unexpected fear. Momentarily glancing over her shoulder, she stopped in her tracks in surprise to see that her father was quite a distance behind, having failed to keep up with her brisk walk. She plopped down in the middle of the dusty street in a huff to wait, only to stand back up and nervously check the darkness behind her. One thing was becoming painfully clear to Applejack: she did not like this place at all.

"Sorry, AJ. I've already done this trip twice recently. I'm not used to going these distances." Applejack was thrown off for a moment. It felt weird to her, to hear him use her nickname like that. It was not something she had expected, and it put her on edge for a moment, even though she was unsure why. Shrugging the feeling off, she chalked it up to the darkness and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally caught up to her.

The rest of their walk was done in silence. Applejack padded along, engrossed in her own thoughts, and allowed her father to lead the way to his own house. She found herself being led a surprising distance out into the countryside, the shining moon and stars her only light. At the crest of a hill, Cider and Applejack found themselves at the head of a trail that led down into a small valley. There were but a few hardy trees growing up out of the long-grassed prairie, leaving the moonlight to shine off the hilly landscape without any interruption. From the hilltop, Applejack could see the dim outlines of what appeared to be a small building in the bottom of the small depression before her. Almost without hesitation, Cider began his descent down the hillside towards the structure. Applejack hastily followed in his footsteps.

The structure steadily became more and more visible in the mediocre light as they drew closer. Applejack felt almost crestfallen as she realized that it seemed very nearly, if not just, as dilapidated as the buildings of the village had been. But it was late, that much was plainly certain, and as far as Applejack was concerned, any place with space enough to just fall down and sleep was more than enough. Upon reaching the house, which could be more accurately described as a glorified shack, Cider opened the door and led his daughter inside.

It was impenetrably dark inside. Startled by the onset of complete blackness, Applejack stumbled on something cold and round and just barely caught herself before she fell forward. Placing her hooves carefully, she inched her way inside, brushing past numerous debris as she went further into the blackness. With practiced precision, Cider lit a series of candles, bringing a soft, glowing light to the room. The soft light gently flickered the interior into being as further tiny flames were called into existence, basking the entire room in a dim glow.

The two visible rooms, or more accurately, the space on one side of the shack that vaguely resembled a living room and the space on the other side that had some elements of a kitchen, were starkly devoid of furniture. One worn couch and a single low table occupied the left side of the space. Only a set-tub sink, a few storage cabinets, and an old wood-fired potbelly stove stood against the right-hoof wall. In the center of the space, a single large table stood out. All the walls were adorned in wood paneling, and on the far one two doors were vaguely visible in the dim murkiness. Numerous empty glass bottles, old, crumpled newspapers, and other various pieces of detritus were scattered over the floor. Old, unclean dishes had been stacked in the sink haphazardly, and several had just been left out of the center table. Applejack could not help but cringe at the sight.

Cider glanced to her face and then about the room, frowning. "Sorry 'bout that. I hadn't… I hadn't actually expected to bring anypony home."

"It's… it's alright dad. Ah'm sure Mac will warm up to ya soon enough. Then we can both go back. In the meantime, Ah'll help ya fix this place up." She smiled up at her father, who allowed a grateful half-grin to cross his face. "Now, where can Ah get some shuteye?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to take the couch. There's only one bed, and you won't like that room." Applejack saw her father's eyelids fall suddenly, as if he had been contemplating something, before he snapped back to attention. She thought nothing of it. Glancing towards the couch, she could see that it was worn and badly frayed in places. There even appeared to be a spring poking up out of one of the cushions. Nevertheless, she trotted over to it and flopped down onto it, immediately sinking into the unsupportive cushions. It was not comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but she soon settled in and found her eyelids beginning to droop. Suddenly, she found a blanket unceremoniously tossed onto her body. She looked up only to see her father receding towards a door on the back wall. He blew out the last few candles, plunging the room into complete darkness save for the pitifully little light that streamed in through the small window above Applejack's head. With that, he opened the door and trotted in, shutting it behind him without so much as a 'goodnight.'

It didn't matter to Applejack. Within only a couple minutes, she had sunken into an acceptable position on the couch, careful to keep her body away from the exposed spring, laid the scratchy woolen blanket over herself, and drifted into an exhausted slumber.

====================================================================================

For years, ever since she had attended flight school in Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash's bed material of choice had, naturally, been clouds. As a pegasus, she had always felt a sort of personal connection and loyalty to the material that only she and her fellow pegasi could appreciate without the aid of a temporary spell. It didn't hurt that she considered it considerably more comfortable than other beddings, either. It was for these reasons that she had had a cloud bed brought into Applejack's room when she moved in with her new marefriend. In the following months, she had spent many a night falling asleep in the comforting billows of cloud, gazing across the room into the beautiful green eyes she loved so much until she drifted off.

Of course, there were also times when Rainbow Dash, either going through a particularly challenging emotional state, or just desiring the company of and physical contact with Applejack, would fall asleep with the orange mare in her shared bed. The effect was always the same. Rainbow Dash would wake up with the other mare, her forelegs more often than not wrapped around the earth pony's torso in a sheltered embrace. Sometimes, in the morning, she would awake to the altogether happy surprise of having moved from her bed into Applejack's sometime during the night. Waking up in the comforting embrace of her lover was an experience Rainbow Dash relished. She had spent countless mornings over the last several months waking up with Applejack.

Rainbow Dash never told anypony about the dreams. She had never told Applejack that they were the reason she would wake up in the middle of the night. She had never told Applejack that they were the reason she would crawl, often dripping tears or cold sweat, into the other mare's bed while she was sleeping. She would snuggle into her protector's chest and finally, beside the pony she loved, her mind, at peace, would allow her an undisturbed sleep. Sometimes Applejack, feeling the pegasus join her in the night, would hug the cyan mare until she too fell asleep once more. It hurt Applejack to know the pain the other mare was in, and she was always more than willing to accommodate her at night. As such, whenever she was woken by Rainbow Dash in the night, she never asked questions. Rainbow Dash had never told her about the dreams, but Applejack had a pretty good idea of them.

For Rainbow Dash, it had been her first night alone for months. Ever since the day in the hospital when she had asked Applejack to stay with her for the night, she had not spent a night in a separate room from the other mare. She awoke with a start amongst hoof-stitched pillows and blankets the morning after. She had hoped that sleeping in Applejack's bed would have the same effects as being with the mare itself. She had been wrong. As she sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes with her hooves, she could feel the cold sweat running down her body. The images from her dreams, however, were the most prominent reminder of her night. For several minutes after she awoke, they remained burned into her mind, despite her best efforts to rid her memory of them.

For the first time, she noticed she was breathing hard. Her mane was a disheveled mess, as were the blankets. She had thrashed about considerably during the night. It didn't surprise her. She curled herself into a ball, desperately trying to drive the visions of her nightmares from her mind. The dreams were always the same. She would watch herself helplessly from above as she plummeted to the ground, only to die on impact. She would see Fluttershy, battered and bruised, as the cold, unforgiving machine next to her hospital bed counted down her last heartbeats. She would listen as Applejack ran away from her, screaming "Ah hate you, Ah never want to see you again, ya stupid fillyfooler," over her shoulder.

Rainbow Dash had seen each nightmare many times. Whenever she did, she had always counted on Applejack to protect her with her embrace. It just wasn't the same. She had woken up several times that night, emerging from the depths of her torturous subconscious, only to find her protector gone. She had inhaled deeply from the pillow, hoping to glean but a hint of Applejack's scent, but to no avail. Now, finally granted the reprieve of the morning, Rainbow Dash sobbed into her hooves.

She wasn't even aware how long she had been awake when she heard the knock at the door. It was a false hope that drove her enthusiastic reaction. "Applejack?"

The bedroom door opened slowly, revealing, much to Rainbow Dash's disappointment, not the orange mare she longed so desperately to see, but her large, deep red brother. "Miss Dash? Are ya ok?"

Rainbow Dash sighed. She liked Big Macintosh. In truth, he had become like a surrogate brother to her just as much as a brother to Applejack in the previous months. He had always remained respectful to her, refusing to refer to her by anything except 'Miss Dash' much to her slight chagrin, and he had grown concerned with her well-being as well. At first thinking it odd, she had grown to accept his care, even cherishing it in her weakest moments. The same was true that morning, when he found her crying alone in his sister's bed. "I… I don't know, Mac. I… I miss AJ."

"Ah miss her too." Big Macintosh strode across the room and laid a comforting hoof across her shoulder, looking down at her with his big, concerned green eyes. They reminded her of Applejack. No matter how glad she was for his presence, he could never replace her. "Ah think Ah might know somethin' to cheer ya up, though."

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash looked up at him, wiping her eyes on a hoof. She was grateful for any sort of distraction.

"One o' your friends is here ta see ya." Rainbow Dash contemplated this for a moment. If anything, it would be worth it to try and get her thoughts off of Applejack and her recurring nightmares. Maybe her friends could help with that. Purposefully, she rolled out of the bed, standing on her four hooves next to Big Macintosh. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror over Applejack's vanity on the other side of the room, she had to stifle a laugh.

"Maybe I should take a shower first."

===================================================================================

Applejack stood back and smiled at her hoofiwork. She had always considered herself to be a good cook, and even with only a potbelly stove at her disposal, she decided that this breakfast was still going to be quite good. Of course, now she would probably need to head into town and see what food she could buy, seeing as how she had essentially wiped out the shack's already low stock of ingredients.

Removing the casserole dish from the stove with covered hooves, she licked her lips hungrily at the enticing scent. She had managed to find some eggs and vegetables in an icebox near the sink, and had cooked her meal with those. She set the dish down on a towel she had laid across the table as a perfunctory tablecloth, if only to prevent burning, and thus further damaging, the already scratched surface of the wooden table. She had already set out two plates, having had time already that morning to clean each dirty dishes from both the table and the sink.

It was odd, she thought, that she still hadn't seen her father since the night before. Sure, they hadn't gotten to the small house until late at night, but it was approaching midday and she hadn't seen him. Applejack was normally an early riser, but she had slept in this morning, and had even had time to begin the process of cleaning the house and making it into a proper home. There was still plenty of work to be done, however.

Applejack trotted over to the door to his bedroom. She rapped several times on the wood panel and heard him groan from inside. "Soup's on, Pa!"

They ate in relative silence. Applejack had found it increasingly hard to carry on a conversation with her father the longer she was with him. It was as if he didn't enjoy talking to anyone, and Applejack felt herself growing more and more isolated. Left to herself, she couldn't help but think about home. She missed her friends, Applebloom, and Big Macintosh already, but most of all, she missed Rainbow Dash. Finished with their breakfast, Applejack set about cleaning once again. She decided that she should just keep working. She found that she could distract herself with her work, so long as she found something to do. Even so, she couldn't help but feel homesick.

===================================================================================

The bottom edge of the large, decorative glass clattered against the surface of the countertop as Rainbow Dash shoved it away from her. She didn't feel like having any of her milkshake. From across the table, Twilight Sparkle looked up at her in confusion. She had thought that bringing her friend to Sugarcube Corner would cheer her up. Instead, Rainbow Dash let her head fall into her hooves, staring at the countertop surface of the table in silence while her friend grew increasingly and increasingly nervous. "Rainbow? Are you Ok? You don't seem well."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head up just enough to give Twilight a fleeting glance before returning her gaze to the table again. "I'm just tired."

Twilight shook her head. "Come on, Rainbow. Even I know that's not just it. I know you're missing Applejack, but there's something else wrong, isn't there?

Rainbow Dash didn't respond. Her eyes remained glued to the surface of the table below her. The countertop was white, but the blank space only served as a canvas for Rainbow Dash's mind. She saw a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane perched on a cloud materialize on the surface. The mare beat her wings and leapt off the cloud. Rainbow Dash could see the blue sky spread itself across the white surface. The winged pony climbed into the sky for several seconds before her wings locked up and she began to fall. Faster. Faster. She tumbled ever downward. The ground rushed up to meet her. Rainbow Dash could not remove her eyes as the scene developed before her. With a final head-over-heels tumble, the falling pegasus collided with the ground. Rainbow Dash watched as the impact threw up a cloud of dirt tinged red. When the dust settled, the broken body of a pegasus lay in a small crater, seeping her life force into the soaked ground.

"Hey. Rainbow? Rainbow! What's the matter with you? You're acting very… well, this isn't like you." Twilight Sparkle's voice broke through rainbow Dash's transfixed stare. She blinked, and the image before her disappeared, leaving the blank white table surface once again. Twilight hadn't seen the sequence play out on the table. Rainbow Dash knew it was in her mind. She didn't want anypony else to see it. Nopony could know, certainly not Twilight.

"I'm fine."

Neither seated pony saw Pinkie Pie approach them from her position at the checkout counter on the other side of the store. "Well, you don't sound fine, you silly filly! Whassa matter, Dashie? Are you missing Applejack? I miss her too. In fact, I would miss any of my friends if they left, because I just love you guys so super-duper much!"

"Pinkie… please. I'm… I'm not in the mood." Rainbow Dash hung her head again, suddenly feeling like she was being crowded.

"Well, that's just silly! Why, If I was a super saddy waddy Dashie because Applejack was gone, I would want my friends to cheer me up! Come on, Dashie! Let's turn that frown up-"

"Leave me alone."

"Don't be silly, Dashie. I would never leave you! You just need some special Pinkie-Pie-brand cheering up!"

"I said… LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rainbow Dash didn't understand it. Suddenly, she found herself in the air, her wigs flapping furiously at her sides as she hovered over a shocked Pinkie Pie and an equally confused Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie Pie looked like she was about to cry. Rainbow Dash felt as if a spotlight had been turned on her as everypony's eyes shifted to her. 'Oh no. What have I done? What have I done? I just screamed at one of my best friends. I… I must be… I must be going crazy.' Rainbow Dash felt herself blanch as thoughts whirled through her mind.

"Rainbow! This isn't like you. She was just trying to help…" Twilight Sparkle, bewildered, watched as her friend hovered above the table. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash turned tail and bolted out the front doors of Sugarcube Corner, leaving every confused occupant of the confectionary staring in her wake.

She flew as fast as she could. Her face was burning. She didn't want anypony to see her. 'Why?' She screamed at herself in her mind, tears wicking at the bottoms of her eyes. The speeding air carried each drop away into nothingness behind her. 'Why am I such an idiot?' She was vaguely aware of the sun setting, seeing the hues of sky blue change imperceptibly to oranges and reds at the edge of the horizon. She didn't care. All that mattered was getting away from Sugarcube Corner as soon as possible.

She streaked over the long rows of apple trees. The colors of the sunset slowly advanced across the sky. The blue was almost entirely gone from the sky when she finally reached the farmhouse. The window into Applejack's room had been left open. She flew straight in. In an unceremonious move that others might have labeled a crash, Rainbow Dash flopped onto Applejack's bed and buried her head in the pillows. She hoped no one would find her. She didn't want anypony to see her tears except for one. She was the one she knew would make her feel better. She longed for her embrace; to feel her hooves around her and to feel her kiss away her tears.

'Oh, Applejack. Where are you? I need you.'

=====================================================================================

The sunset was slowly sinking over the billowing fields of tall prairie grass as Applejack trotted over the hill. It had been a hot day, as most summer days had been recently, and even though she hadn't ventured out until the late afternoon, there was still sweat rolling down Applejack's brow. Of course, much of this perspiration was also due to her own exertion of herself. Applejack had a contented smile on her face. Drops of sweat continued to roll down her face from her nearly-soaked mane, prompting her to lift a hoof every so often to wipe errant moisture away from her eyes, but she was happy nonetheless. Applejack had always been of the opinion that a good workout, especially one that made her sweat, was one of the more rewarding ways she could employ her extra time, and the strenuous run through the fields she had just undertaken was no exception.

Applejack stopped at the crest of the hill. The landscape surrounding the house certainly was rolling, but the hills and dips weren't very steep or tall. For this reason, running through them didn't put too much strain on her body, but had been good exercise nevertheless. Applejack took in a deep breath as she surveyed the surrounding scenery. The long light of the setting sun cast long shadows across the whispering, waving grasses. The orange, red, and fading blue hues of the sky accented the golden brown grasses and the subtle green hints of other plants. The entire landscape seemed to glow as if the sunlight was being soaked up by each individual fiber of nature and emitted as shimmering natural brilliance. Applejack decided she could really learn to like it here.

She cast her gaze into the dip between hills below her, where the cabin that served as her father's house resided. In this light, in this idyllic setting, it somehow didn't seem out of place. Sure, it was shabby and run-down, but Applejack was confident that with a little tender loving care the cabin could be fixed up. Looking upon the desolate structure, she felt with overwhelming conviction that she could make it into a beautiful house. It had rustic charm to spare, and Applejack grew suddenly very excited about the prospects of fixing up not only a new home, but a new life for her father.

With renewed energy, she trotted quickly down the hill to arrive at the front door of the cabin. She swung it open, feeling a surge of pride for the work she had already done that morning. The house was now spotless, cleaned completely from the inside out. She had washed every dish, cleaned the floor, and even endeavored with limited success to fix the broken spring on her couch. The house looked brighter now, more friendly, open, and inviting. Applejack smiled. She was glad that her hard work had paid off.

Applejack trotted into the house. Her father was not in the main room, so she decided to look for him in the back rooms. Before she reached the back wall, however, she tripped over something, coming very close to falling flat on her face. "What in the hay?" She turned around to look at the spot. Strangely, she hadn't noticed the latch before. She tapped it with a hoof. It was rusty, and seemed to be embedded into the floor. Blowing away some dust, she discovered a piece of the wooden flooring appeared to be cut into a large square shape. The latch, which upon closer inspection appeared to be a handle capable of accommodating a hoof, lay in the middle of this isolated square. Applejack's mind immediately came to a rather unexpected conclusion. "A trapdoor?" She tried to pull the latch up, but found it locked. Perplexed, she looked up and called over towards the back wall. "Hey Dad, what is thing here?" She received no answer. "Dad?"

She trotted over to the back wall and opened the first door. She cringed. Her father's bedroom was in even further disarray than the main room had been. She shook that thought from her mind. She could deal with it later. The important thing right now was that her father did not appear to be home and she had no idea where he was. The other door turned out to lead to a disorganized closet. She sighed. There wasn't much she could do now. She could try going into town to find him, but in truth, she didn't want to run the risk of meeting one of the elder, larger stallions on a lonely path. Sighing in defeat, she found a book in the closet and walked over to the couch to settle down and wait.

====================================================================================

It was evening by the time Big Macintosh heard several raps on the front door. He stood up and strode over to the entryway. Putting his hoof to the latch, he swung the door open. He blinked in surprise to find four mares staring up at him. "Good evening, Big Mac." Twilight Sparkle smiled as she looked up at him. "We'd like to speak to Rainbow Dash. Is she home?"

Big Macintosh blinked a couple times before shaking his head. "Sorry, Miss Twilight, but Ah haven't seen her since y'all came for her this mornin'. Are ya sure she's here?"

"Well, she left us this afternoon, and we haven't seen her anywhere else. This is the most likely place she would go…. May we come in?"

"Sure, make yerselves at home." Big Macintosh stepped aside to let Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy into his house. "If she came back without me knowin' she'd be up in AJ's room."

"Thanks, Big Mac."

"No problem, Miss Twilight. Good luck findin' her, you too, Miss Rarity, Miss Pie, Fluttershy."

The three friends trotted quickly up the stairs and soon found themselves at the door to Applejack's room. They knocked, but heard nothing from the other side. Twilight Sparkle tried the latch, but found it locked. She sighed. "Come on, Rainbow. Let us in. We need to talk to you. You kinda hurt Pinkie's feelings earlier and we wanted to make sure you're Ok. Rainbow?"

"Step aside, Twilight dear." Rarity gently nudged her fellow unicorn out of the way, her horn glowing in a pale white aura. "I'm terribly sorry, but talking to her through the door will never work." The door handle was enveloped in Rarity's magic, and soon the four mares heard a click. The door swung open. "Oh, she isn't here."

"What, she has to be here. We've looked everyplace else!" Twilight Sparkle pushed her way into the room after Rarity, followed quickly by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. She looked about the room in frustration for a few seconds before sighing. "I guess she isn't here. Oh well. Come on girls, we'll go look somew-"

"No, wait Twilight. Darling, look at this!" Twilight Sparkle was interrupted as a piece of paper, enveloped in Rarity's pale white glow, flew its way into her vision. "This was on Applejack's bed. I think it's a note."

Twilight Sparkle grabbed the letter. She unfolded it, revealing the unmistakable scrawl of Rainbow Dash's mouth-writing. "It's from Rainbow… She left us a message."

"Well, what does it say? Let me see, let me see!" Pinkie Pie bounced over, trying to get a better view. Twilight Sparkle bumped her out of the way and cleared her throat.

"Dear Everypony. If you're reading this, it means that I'm already gone. I'm leaving to try and find Applejack. I thought I could go without her, but I was wrong. It hurts too much. I don't know exactly where she is, but I can't live with myself if I don't try and find her. I need her. I know it doesn't make much sense, but without Applejack, I feel alone, and I'm nothing on my own. I'm nothing without her. Thanks for trying to help me, but I need to find her. Tell Pinkie I'm sorry I shouted at her. You guys are all great friends, and I'm sorry you have to find out this way. Rainbow Dash."

The room descended into silence for uncounted minutes after Twilight Sparkle stopped reading. The four friends stood crowded around her, all but frozen in shock as they each read and reread the letter as if the words were somehow lying to them. Rarity was the first to find her voice. "She's gone?"

Chapter 5

There is a particular type of silence that seems all-pervasive. The very air around one's head can seem heavy – entrapping, even – with the anticipation of words unsaid. Ultimately, it can be triggered by many things; a seemingly innocent lull in a conversation, perhaps, or even the drop of a particularly unpleasant or ominous bit of news. In the case of the four friends who stood in the center of the sparsely, yet cozily, decorated bedroom, the cause was exactly that. The silence that reigned after Rarity's exclamation seemed to grow without bound, swelling and bulging to neatly engulf the entire space around them. The room became deathly still – so quiet that even the light rustling of the parchment could be distinctly heard as it slipped from Twilight Sparkle's magical grasp and lazily meandered its way down to the floor.

Each second that passed by seemed a minute, just as each minute seemed an hour. No one spoke, the weight of the sudden revelation dragging heavily on their minds. To each pony present, it was as if they could hear each individual thought as it whirled through their heads. Questions, ideas, and any other type of thought pushed its way into the forefront of their consciousness, whirling and making noise as it flashed by. The perceived sounds of each thought grew together to form a cacophony of noiseless ideas that dominated the attentions of each pony as their minds worked at a furious pace. Thus, in its complete perfection, the silence grew deafeningly loud. It weighed heavily on them. Internally, each willed the others to speak first. The silence seemed too oppressive for them to break it themselves, but it seemed so excruciating that each pony hoped another would do the honors in their stead.

Pinkie Pie was the first to break that silence. For the energetic pony, her natural affinity for speaking finally beat out her trepidation to shatter the deafening quiet. She voiced much the same question that had been posed by Rarity seemingly centuries previous. "Dashie's gone?"

It was as if she had thrown a switch. As soon as her words broke the perceived barrier of the silent room, each pony present broke forth in a nearly indiscernible clash of voices.

"What are we going to do?"

"Should we tell somepony?"

"She could hurt herself!"

"She could get lost!"

"What was she thinking?"

"Should we go after her?"

"We need to make sure she's safe!"

"What should we do?"

"We have to find her!"

"We need to go now!"

"She can't have gone very far."

"What if she…"

"EVERYPONY QUIET!" Almost as suddenly as it had begun, the nearly incoherent babbling of the assembled ponies was silenced by Twilight Sparkle's loud exclamation. The three friends turned to look at their companion. The purple unicorn's eyes were wide and she seemed to be glaring, her chest heaving with each breath after her outburst. After a few deep breaths, Twilight's gaze cooled and she seemed to return to a more placid state. She still looked quite distressed, however. "We need to calm down and think this through."

Pinkie Pie, however, still had the energy, and the initiative, to argue. "Come on Twilight, she'll get even further away if we dilly-dally!"

"No, Twilight's right." Rarity, who had been flustered before, now spoke in a calm, leveled voice. "This is a very delicate situation. We need to treat it carefully."

"But she could get herself lost, or hurt, or something else super-de-dupery bad!" Pinkie Pie jumped in place, itching to leave in pursuit of their missing friend.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "I know Pinkie, but it won't help her at all if we just rush out in search of her. We have no idea where she went or how to find her. We need to think this through first, or else we'll never be able to find her."

"Besides, Darling." Rarity smiling wanly to her pink friend. "Rainbow Dash can fly faster than anypony else I know. She could be miles away by now, and the only way to follow her would be to send Fluttershy out after her, and it's getting dark."

"Besides, I can't fly nearly as fast as Rainbow Dash, and I don't even know what direction she went. I'm sorry Pinkie, but I can't do it."

"But I… But we…" Pinkie Pie's head visibly fell as she realized she lost the debate. "What should we do?"

"Oh Pinkie," Twilight stepped forward to lay a comforting hoof over her friend's shoulder. "We should all go home and get a good night's sleep. Maybe we'll have a good idea in the morning, but the best thing we can do right now is get a grip on the situation."

No matter how much she wanted to argue, Pinkie Pie realized that her unicorn friend was right. Even though she hated the thought of Dashie being out there alone, she knew there was nothing she could do right then. "Pinkie-Pie-promise me that we'll find her."

Twilight smiled. "I promise." Even the normal hoof-gestures were unnecessary. Her voice carried enough resignation for a dozen Pinkie-Pie-promises.

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It was summer, and as a matter of principle, the days were hot. However, in complete contradiction to the season, the nights, although remaining relatively warm for the few hours after the sun went down, still grew very cold by the wee hours of dawn. It was a contrast that ultimately drove most ponies indoors to sleep, only the hardiest of night-owls daring to brave the chill of Luna's night. This was true of the patrons of the bar in Manesville, as it was true of several of the more fun-loving citizens of Equestria's larger cities, especially Manehattanites, who supremely enjoyed the night-life. Ponyville, by comparison, had few night-owls. However, there were those who were fond of staying up late, especially at a particularly good party. Pinkie Pie, of course, was counted among this number, as had been her often partner-in-crime, Rainbow Dash, who was notorious for making up lost sleep with daytime naps.

The pegasus, of course, had spent the majority of her nights since her suicide attempt in bed, often sharing her place of sleep with Applejack. Cast into a lonely world without her lover, however, the cyan pegasus made use of her ample experience as a night-owl to fly deep into the night.

The chilled wind of the night bit at her face and whipped her multicolored mane into a frenzy as she pushed herself forward, one wing-beat at a time. In truth, she had no idea where she was going. Her mind was dominated by one thing: Applejack. She didn't know her destination, but she knew who she was going to find there. She was sure of it. Every so often, she would glance downwards, making use of the illumination of Luna's moon to make sure that she was still following the road as she flew. She knew to follow the road, there was no way Applejack and her father would have walked across the open countryside, she reasoned. She even knew which road to follow out of town, having asked several ponies who had seen the farmer pony and her father leave which way they had gone.

A split was coming up in the road, Rainbow Dash could see it ahead of her in the moonlight, even as she squinted in the biting wind. To her left, Rainbow Dash could see a faint glow on the horizon. She knew the sun had long gone down, as evidenced by the brisk chill of the air at her altitude. She also knew that the light of the day was not due to rise for several hours more. The glow in the distance could only be one thing: Manehattan. Equestria's large city was about a good journey from Ponyville, but Rainbow Dash knew there was a road that led there all the same. The left fork of the road below her continued towards the glow that marked the city. As she passed over the junction, Rainbow Dash angled right.

From the snippets of conversation that she had heard between Applejack and her father, Rainbow Dash knew that they had been headed to a small town. Thankfully, she would not have to search for her marefriend in Manehattan. She soon put the glow on the horizon behind her as she flew her way over the rolling hills and forests of the landscape.

"Don't worry Applejack, I'm coming. We'll be together again soon." They were empty words, spoken to an empty sky. In truth, she didn't even know if Applejack wanted to see her. Rainbow Das didn't even know what she would do if she ever found her marefriend. The earth pony certainly wasn't expecting her lover to show up, and Rainbow Dash worried that Applejack wouldn't be pleased. Still, she flew on, determined to see her lover again. She wouldn't, couldn't, give up. In a very real way, Rainbow Dash sensed that, somehow, her life depended on finding the other pony. She couldn't bear to be without her.

The late-night journey had, unfortunately, taken a toll on the Rainbow-maned pegasus. After having flown for longer than she cared to keep track of, Rainbow Dash was reaching a state of mental and physical strain that she, as an athlete, knew she experienced whenever she tried to overexert herself.

Try as she might, she could no longer ignore the symptoms. At one point, she caught herself with her eyes closed. She had never fallen asleep while flying before, and she didn't plan to now. Sighing in resignation, she decided that she had no choice but to stop for the night and get some well-needed rest.

Squinted against the blowing air, she spotted a cloud only a short distance ahead of her. She knew that she needed some rest, and she could feel the aches and strain in her body even more now that she thought about it. Her wings groaned in protest with each flap, her muscles aching in a way that she had hardly experienced in a long time. Finally, she closed in on the cloud, planting her hooves firmly on the springy yet supportive surface. She breathed a sigh of relief as she folded her wings to her sides. The aching began to subside, and she felt her eyelids start to slide down again.

Unceremoniously, she flopped down onto her side on the surface of the small cloud. She felt herself sink down into the soft surface and allowed a small smile to cross her face. As she drifted off, she tried not to think of the dreams. She hoped against hope that she would not be visited by them in her sleep, but she had no certainty of peace. All she could do was picture the one pony who could stave off the nightmares. Visions of an orange earth pony with a flowing blonde mane ran their way through her mind's eye as she allowed sleep to take her.

"Don't worry. We'll be together soon."

==================================================================================

Night had fallen several hours ago. It was fairly long past the time when Applejack would usually turn in for the night, but still she foraged ahead – fully awake. She had already exhausted her book, yet she remained awake, waiting for the moment when her perseverance and patience would pay off. The moonlight, filtered through the still-grimy windows, gave little ambience to the scene. Only the candles she had lit provided her with enough light to see by. She knew it was long past dark outside, but no matter how much she worried, she dared not venture out into unfamiliar territory in the dead of night. So she waited.

The unmistakable creak of rusty hinges on an old door was all that was needed for Applejack to jerk her gaze up quickly from her spot on the couch. The deep, cool blue of the night was plainly visible to her in the steadily-growing crack of the gradually-opening door. She knew who it was before she even saw him. He was, of course, who she had been waiting for all this time. He was the only other pony who could possibly arrive at the old cabin at such a late hour.

"Just where in the hay have ya been?" Applejack stood up from her laying position on the couch. In a few swift steps, she had crossed the room and now stood in front of her father, who still occupied the doorway.

He pushed forward, seemingly undaunted by the presence of his daughter, and forced Applejack to jump to the side as he wobbled his way clumsily into the room. He swayed wildly with each step, as if he was unsure of where to place his hooves as he attempted to move forward. He offered forth no answer as he stumbled toward the door to his bedroom.

Almost snorting in her readily-apparent frustration, Applejack jumped forward to place herself in his path again. This time he stopped, finding the mare thoroughly blocking his path. He tottered slightly from side-to-side and only barely managed to keep himself from falling forward as his momentum very nearly brought him to the floor. Applejack looked him over with a keen eye, the frown on her face growing larger and larger as her gaze registered his roughish, unkempt appearance. "Ah said… just where in the hay have you been." Applejack was nearly scowling now.

The stallion, squinting as he tried to focus his vision on the mare in front of him, scowled back. "I don't gotta esshplain mahself to you."

"You're drunk."

"Ssho what if I… if I 'm?"

"Consarnit, Dad! Ya can't do this! Ta hear you talk 'bout wantin' ta get yer life back together, well this is half the problem! Ya can't go out doin' this every night! Ya can't jus-"

The particularly sharp blow of a rather large hoof to the side of her face came as a complete surprise. In truth, the thought had never even crossed Applejack's mind that her father might lash out at her, let alone actually hit her, for any reason. She had especially considered the stallion, in his obviously inebriated state, to be almost completely incapable of mustering the strength and coordination needed for such a blow. Nonetheless, she staggered sideways, thrown completely out-of-balance by the strike to her cheek. It was very nearly all she could do to prevent herself from slamming into the ground in her wild stumble, and quite possibly sustaining injury other than her smarting cheek. "What in the hay?" She gasped out loud as she finally managed to regain her balance, turning quickly to face her father and bracing for the possibility of another strike.

"I'm gonna shay thish once, and only once." Cider managed to stop his swaying altogether for a moment, standing briefly as a very imposing figure over his daughter. "No mare, 'shpeshially not mah daughter, bosshesh me around."

Applejack, too shocked to offer a rebuttal, or any other reply of any kind, could only stare in complete confusion, disgust, and minor horror as he staggered his way into the bedroom.

===================================================================================

Morning came to Ponyville much as it always had, accompanied by a brilliant array of colors cast upon the unsuspecting canvas of the sky by the rising sun. Celestia's great orb beamed its warming light into the homes of numerous ponies, signaling for many that start of a brand new day. For four friends, however, sleep had been hard to come by.

The first light of the dawn found Rarity wide awake and alert, quite contrary to the normal behavior of the white unicorn who was well-known to relish her beauty-sleep. She made use of the early-morning rays as she strode from her dress-shop to make the short walk to the library.

The library, despite its quiet and less-than-popular aspects, had achieved a special distinction for the group of six friends. In the event of almost any crisis that happened to involve them, the library was the unofficial meeting place that seemed to always host them in times of need. So too, as Rarity trotted her way towards the tree-turned structure, was it filling this function.

Rarity opened the door and stepped into the library without knocking. There was, understandably, an unspoken agreement between these good friends that the library was always open to them in times of crisis. This was, decidedly, one of those times. The daylight flowing through the windows illuminated the room as Rarity gently stepped over the threshold. "Twilight? Twilight, dear?" Stepping around a bookcase, Rarity sighed, smiling as she did so.

A rather large book lay open upon the main table of the library's great room. Next to this book, a burnt-out candle stood, its charred wick barely poking above the candle-holder. It had obviously gone out hours before, having exhausted its fuel supply when nopony was around, or awake, to blow it out. The reason for that was abundantly clear. Slumped over the table, with her face buried in the open pages of the book, was Twilight Sparkle. Rarity chuckled to herself at her friend's sleeping form, before trotting over to gently nudge the other unicorn awake.

"Wha… Huh?... Spike?... What's… what's going on?"

"Oh, Twilight, Dear, you've fallen asleep in a book… again."

"Oh…" Twilight Sparkle stifled a yawn as she stretched, lifting her head from the table. "Hello, Rarity. Wait… OH! Rarity!"

"Yes, Darling?"

"I found it! I found it!"

"Found what?"

"What we need. Look, look here." She grasped the open book and spun it on the table so that Rarity could see the page. The title written across the top of the page read 'Divination for Fillies'. Rarity scanned the page for several seconds, barely understand the complicated spells listed and detailed before her eyes.

"What am I looking for?"

"This. Right… here." Twilight pointed out the spot on the large page with a hoof. "This is what we need to find Rainbow Dash, look at this." She reached over to the other side of the table, pulling over an old, crinkled, yellowed piece of parchment. She flipped it over, revealing to her friend a large assortment of lines, symbols, and characters. Rarity immediately recognized it as a map of Equestria. "I can use this, and a piece of Rainbow Dash, and do this spell here," Twilight Sparkle began speaking quite animatedly, tapping at a passage in the book furiously, "and then the spell will show us, on the map, where she is!"

"A… piece… of Rainbow Dash?"

"Like a hair, or something. Come on, we have to get the others and see if we can find something to use!"

The two unicorns rushed out of the library, and in due course, returned with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. The four friends gathered around the same center table in the great room, where Twilight Sparkle magically whisked a hairbrush from her saddle-bags and laid it out on the table. "Ok, I found Applejack's hairbrush, but I didn't find anything like that for Rainbow Dash. Did you girls find anything?"

Rarity and Pinkie Pie both shook their heads. Twilight Sparkle turned to Fluttershy, who nervously reached her mouth into a space behind her mane, brushing aside long pink strands as she uncovered a small alcove within her own mane. "I found this." She whispered through clenched teeth as she drew something very small out. Delicately, she laid a tiny, cyan feather on the table.

Twilight smiled brightly. "That'll work beautifully. Everypony stand back." Her friends did as she told; knowing full well to leave the unicorn plenty of space when performing complicated magic. With her magical aura, she removed a single blonde strand of hair from Applejack's hair brush. As she poured more magic into the spell, her face grew contorted in concentration and the hair began to glow. Slowly, it lowered further and further toward the surface of the table before finally contacting the spread-out map. Instantly, the hair disappeared, the entire map giving off a faint glow for a fraction of a second as it seemed to absorb it. Twilight Sparkle broke her concentration and opened her eyes to survey her handiwork. A tiny, golden dot seemed to be glowing from a remote corner of the map.

"There, there she is!" Rarity clapped her hooves against the floor in excitement, knowing full well what this meant. "Oh, Twilight Sparkle, you absolute genius!"

"Thanks, Rare, but I still have to do Rainbow Dash." Familiar with the spell now, Twilight Sparkle enveloped the small feather in her aura and began to perform the same sequence on it. Soon enough, a bright cyan dot was glowing from the map as well. Twilight cried out in joy when she saw it. "Ok…ok, if Ponyville is here," her voice grew suddenly serious, "And Applejack is here… hey, Rainbow Dash is heading in the right direction. She's getting pretty close to AJ."

"Come on, Twilight! Are we gonna go after her now? Are we? Are we? Are we?" Pinkie Pie began bouncing up and down as she repeated her question over and over again, unable to contain her excitement.

"Of course," Twilight Sparkle stuffed the map quickly, but carefully, into her saddlebags, trotting towards the door as she spoke. "There isn't a moment to lose. Let's go, girls!"

===================================================================================

When she woke up, Rainbow Dash was, at first, confused. The sensation of the rays of sunlight teasing her eyelids was annoying, but not altogether something she wasn't used to. She often had to ignore the assault in order to steal more sleep, as she often did. Besides, her cloud was comfortable, and the breeze that gently tickled her fur was so as well.

The problem that her newly-conscious mind began picking over, even as she tried to will herself back to sleep, was that she seemed to be on a cloud, and if her often-unreliable early-morning memory was to be believed, she should have been in applejack's bed. A slightly stronger gust of breeze blew across her mane. Rainbow Dash instantly bolted upright.

"Where am I?" Rainbow Dash looked around frantically, taking in the rather unfamiliar countryside before her until the previous day's proceedings dawned on her in a sudden flash.

She looked down from her high perch, scanning the land below her. She gasped out loud when what she saw finally registered in her mind. "Oh, no!" She jumped frantically from her cloud, her wings immediately catching the air as she unfurled them and propelled herself forward into the sky. Somehow, almost inconceivably, she could not see the road.

Her mind was running over the problem of how this could have happened. The answer was immediately obvious to her. The wind must have blown the cloud away from the road sometime during the night. Hoping that she was right, and hoping even more that the wind hadn't shifted some time since, she angled herself and flew into the breeze, scanning the ground for any sign of a road.

It was not long until a grey-brown ribbon, stretching along the landscape, revealed itself to her from behind a rise of hills. She angled downward, sweeping down towards it and watching the dusty road grow as she approached it. With practiced precision, she landed softly on the dusty surface. It was such an underused road that the dirt and dust that had blown up from the surface had covered all but the most recent signs of travel. There were only a few hoof prints visible in the fine dirt, but those that were visible made a clear impression. She approached the most promising set of prints. There was only one way she could know if this was the right path. She bent down, bringing her face close to the dusty surface. Bringing her nose right to the edge of hoof impression, she inhaled deeply, smiling involuntarily as she did so.

"Apples."

===================================================================================

The little shack hardly got any light inside, not even during the day. Having to constantly use candles, especially when there was such good, natural light available outside, had been growing more and more on Applejack's nerves the longer she stayed with her father. She had always been a fan of the outdoors and natural light anyway, it was one of the things, along with fresh air, that she enjoyed most about living on a farm.

It was for this reason that she found herself outside in the late afternoon, scrubbing furiously with a wet dishrag at one of the grimy windows. If only for her own personal comfort, she wanted to brings something of the outdoors inside the shack. The fact that it gave her an excuse to avoid her father, the memory of their encounter the night previous still fresh in her mind, was an added benefit she gladly accepted.

It was not hard for her to fully absorb herself in her work, and as she scrubbed at the big window that overhung her couch-bed, occasionally dipping her rag back into a bucket of soapy water, she began to notice real improvement. It still came as somewhat of a shock to her, though, how much dirt and grime had built up on the surface. I was as if no one had bothered to clean it for years, decades, even, and it was hard work to get a part of the glass clean enough to the point where she could see through it. Even then, she had to move on to another, equally as dirty, equally as difficult to clean, section. It was tedious and steadfast, but it gave her a distraction, so she kept at it.

She grew so absorbed in her task that she didn't even notice as the sky grew darker. When she finally finished scrubbing clean the entire window, it was well into sunset. It actually surprised her for a moment when she looked up, and she chuckled at her own indifference. Picking up her bucket in her mouth, she carried it inside, set on dumping its contents into the sink and stowing the bucket in the closet where she had found it. It was still shocking to her how her father had managed to get by with so few amenities.

Her task accomplished, she turned from the sink and, in the process, caught a fleeting glance of the door to her father's room. It was ajar. She could see straight in. The door had been closed when she had gone outside earlier in the day; she had assumed that he had been sleeping over what had to be a hangover, judging by his behavior the night before. She had been content to leave him to it. Now, however, he was nowhere in sight. For the second time in as many days, her father had left the house without her knowledge. She mentally cursed herself and her indifference. She knew now exactly where he must have gone. He would, of course, be at the bar in town.

Her gaze hardened into a scowl as she stared at the plain walls of the cabin. She had hardly ever lost her temper in recent days; she found that playing nurse to Rainbow Dash had a calming effect on her anger, but this? This was too much. Feeling her frustration building, she kicked the wood floor in a brief outlet of her own rage. Her hoof merely scuffed the slightly duty surface. She scowled. She decided one thing then and there: she wasn't going to let him get away with it this time.

It was not so much of a long walk to get into town, but it was even darker by the time she arrived. She knew where she would find him. He had, of course, shown her the bar on her first visit to the dingy hamlet. The lighting seemed just as low and the atmosphere just as repulsive as it had been that other night. She spotted him almost instantly through the gloom of the tavern. He was, once again, hunched over the bar, a half-emptied glass by his hoof. Stifling an angry snort, she wasted no time approaching the bar.

For all her anger with her father and her stubborn, impulsive decision to confront him, Applejack now realized that she hadn't really given thought to how to go about the actual confrontation. She stood, a few hoof-lengths behind him, ready to make her presence known, and she had no idea how to best go about it. Consequently, she decided to wing it. She reached up and tapped him on the shoulder.

His response, considering his seemingly less-than-alert state, was still rather quick. He was, at first, surprised to be bothered in a place where he was normally left alone. In his inebriated state, it took him still a few moments to recognize that it was his own daughter accosting him. When he did, he didn't say anything. He sighed, turned back to the bar to finish his drink, and then spun around, rather clumsily, to face her. They stood, staring at each other, neither entirely sure what to say, for several moments, before Applejack beckoned him outside. He followed her without protest.

Once outside, in the dim light of the moon on the dusty main road, Applejack still found herself at a loss for what to say. It was, however, to her surprise, Cider who broke the silence. "Go back. You sshouldn't be here." Applejack could her him slur his words slightly as he spoke, and she saw him sway from side to side, as if standing up straight was already too much of a challenge for him. She shook her head.

"Ya shouldn't be here either, Dad. Ya can't keep doin' this. It's not good for ya."

"I've been doing thissh for yearssh. It'sh not yer place to tell me what to do."

"Ah thought ya wanted me ta help ya get yer life back together. Clearly, you'd just rather poison yerself. Now come on, we're both going back. Ah'm not lettin' you stay here."

"Didn't you hear me? I Shaid no mare bosshesh me around. I'm goin' back inshide. You'd bessht leave."

"No, Ah'm not gonna let ya hurt yerself. Otherwise there's no point in me bein' here at all."

"I said… leave… now."

"No."

Cider looked down his snout, focusing his gaze directly on his daughter. He leaned in closer. Applejack could taste the sharp tang of alcohol on his breath, still she did not back down. He glared. She glared back. They stared each other down in this way for several moments, the heightened silence passing between them speaking more than angry, slurred words ever could. With every sway of his body, every foul discharge of his breath, Applejack watched him. She saw his bloodshot golden eyes search her over. She did not flinch. When he raised a hoof, preparing for another strike much like the night before, she saw it. She was ready.

He brought his hoof out from a wide arc, wobbling unsteadily on his three remaining hooves as he struggled to keep his balance. In his mind, he was teaching an insubordinate daughter a lesson. In her mind, she was waiting for exactly the right moment.

Applejack had often prided herself on her fighting skills. From playful bouts at rodeos to more serious situations, she had always made sure she could know and anticipate her opponent's moves. It nearly came as second nature to her. In her mind's eye, it was as if the hoof, now flying towards her cheek in the sweeping arc of a wide hay-maker, was traveling in slow motion. Last night, she had not been expecting it. That had been a mistake. This time, she was ready.

Just as his hoof passed into her peripheral vision, she brought her own front hoof, striking the incoming threat upwards with enough force to deflect its trajectory harmlessly upwards and away from her face. She watched the surprised look form on her father's face as he was unbalanced. She chose this moment to jump forward. Taking advantage of his compromised position, she darted in and swept his other front hoof out from underneath him in a sweeping move that, in his inebriated state, he did not see coming. She ducked and rolled to the side just as his already unbalanced body came crashing down to the dirt with a thud.

His large body hit the dust clumsily. He groaned as he struggled to get his hooves back under him. Applejack stood over him, looking down in disgust and shame at the weak, drunken form of her father. "This ain't worth it. You're just a mean old drunk, just like ya were before ya left. Ah'm goin' home. Ya don't need mah help. You're far gone enough. Ah wanna see Rainbow Dash again. Ah'm goin' home."

She turned and began to walk away. She hoped he wouldn't try to follow her, but she watched out of the corner of her eye for him all the same. Behind her, Cider finally managed to shakily bring himself back up to four hooves. He squinted through the dim moonlight, watching the receding form of his own daughter as she abandoned him. Applejack saw him get up, but she didn't see his grin. "You're gonna run back home t' yer fillyfriend? Fine." He spat.

Applejack stopped in her tracks, whirling around as she heard the trigger word. "What did you say?"

"Yer fillyfriend? That'sh what sshe ish, ishn't sshe?" Cider snarled at her and began advancing towards her, staggering as he tried to walk from a combination of the effects of too much drink and the pain in his fore legs. She stayed rooted in her spot. "I never thought I would raise a fillyfooler."

Applejack felt as if she was immobile. She hated that word. She couldn't stand it when ponies used it. It was terrible, demeaning, and all the worse because of who was saying it. As she stood there, barely able to watch his shakily advancing form in the pale moonlight, she felt she had never hated a pony more in her life than she did him, right then. She wanted to jump at him; to knock him hard into the dirt and tear into his body; to sink blow after blow from her hooves into his grinning face. But she couldn't. She was stuck. She couldn't move.

He just kept coming. He drew closer and closer. She couldn't bare it. He was right in her face. She could taste the alcohol on his breath as he stared right into her eyes. He began to laugh. Every single breath he exhaled sent a puff of acrid air right into her snout. She hated him. She wanted him gone, but she could do nothing. She stayed stock-still, her mouth agape, staring into his eyes like a dear caught in headlights.

She was in shock. It was a blind, crippling shock borne of intense hatred and something else she didn't know. All the same, she was unable to move. She barely heard him as he spoke again, taunting her. "My own daughter, a fillyfooler. You're just a shame, a disshgrace. Fillyfooler."

She didn't see him raise his hoof a second time. She didn't see him bring it up behind his head. She didn't see it come flying at her, not aimed for her cheek this time. She was too entranced in a combination of chock and horror.

For a split second, she felt the crushing blow of the hoof strike the back of her head, before everything went completely dark, and she could feel nothing.

===============================================================================

Another day had brought Rainbow Dash no closer to her destination, wherever that was. She was beginning to lose hope. She didn't even know if the road she was following would lead her to the right place anymore. She had passed several small towns, and the ponies there had all told her they hadn't seen Applejack, nor a large brown stallion.

Night had fallen, and Rainbow Dash was already exhausted. She began to wonder if she had only imagined the faint scent of apples on the road earlier that morning. With her wings aching, her body protesting, and her mind ready to give up, she found another cloud and dropped herself into it. The soft, fluffy cushion did nothing to sooth her.

She stared up at the endless sky. A perfectly infinite painting of stars was spread out before her, and the crown jewel of the night sky, Luna's moon, shone down on her with an intensity that made her cringe. Still, she stared upwards. She could do nothing more. Her body hurt, she could no longer push herself any further. She didn't even know if she was on the right path anymore. She wanted to cry. She couldn't, so she whispered quietly to the moon.

"What if I never find her? What if I never see her again? What if she doesn't want to see me anymore? What if I get lost out here? What if…" She rolled over, unable to ponder her fate any longer. Still, the tears would not come. She, by the grace of an exhausted mind and body, had been afforded the gift of uninterrupted sleep the night before. This night, however, she knew there would be no such luck for her. No matter how tired her body ad mind were this night, she knew she would have the dreams again. She could feel them coming like some sort of inevitable disaster.

She had felt this way before, once or twice in her life. The last time she had felt it, she had nearly killed herself. She knew the feeling. It was despair. "Is there anypony out there who… is lost and hurt and lonely too…?" For Rainbow Dash, it felt as if she was bleeding all her colors into one. A cold, grey, lifeless Rainbow Dash would haunt her dreams, one she had only seen once before.

Chapter 6

The walk from the town to the cabin was not a necessarily long one, but it was not altogether one that Cider relished undertaking anyway. Its passage was, of course, made all the more difficult by the near complete darkness a night lit only by the stars and, of course, his own intoxicated state. These factors, however, were not a new experience to the stallion in the slightest. He had made this journey countless times in the dark of night while less than sober, and held no qualms about his ability to pick out the route even with his limited eyesight, mostly by feeling the way with his hooves as he had done numerous times before. No, it was not the darkness nor his drunken stumbling that made the walk difficult, but the rather heavy extra weight slung over his already aching back.

It can be said that, among other ponies her size and especially among other mares, Applejack was rather on the heavy side. This was not to say, however, that she was overweight, in fact, quite the opposite. Applejack had spent years, the majority of her young life, even, building up lean muscle doing the sorts of strenuous, physical labor that even some stallions would balk at. The many pounds of lean muscle were an unavoidable by-product of the daily chores that come with life on a farm. Applejack had, of course, always been proud of her impressive physique, a strong, well-toned body that was doing absolutely nothing for her at the moment as she hung limply from her father's back, completely unconscious. Her build did weigh down on her father, but having spent his own young life involved in some of the same agricultural pursuits as her, he was physically up to the task. It was the stores of energy required that he found hard to come by.

As a result, Cider had to stop every so often, usually to catch his breath, but also at times because his senses were sidelined by the particularly strong side-effects of his intoxication. It took longer than usual for him to reach the shack he called his house. The door groaned under the protest of rusted hinges long in need of lubricant as he shoved the door open with his shoulder. He staggered into the doorway and very nearly lost his balance, stumbling forward as he had done several times that night with his legs bearing the strain of the extra load. Having finally reached his nightly destination, he leaned to the side, tottering precariously as he slid his daughter's immobile form onto the wooden floor with an unceremonious thump.

Despite his at-best marginal ability to think clearly in this state, Cider still managed to make the leap of understanding that Applejack would need some sort of restraint – especially if he was going to go out again that night (as he fully planned on doing). He spied a coil of rope hanging in the closet. It would suit his purposes perfectly.

It was not very long after that he had once again left the cabin and returned to the winding and somewhat overgrown road leading back to town. It was easier going this time around, as he was able to get his hooves underneath him with relative ease compared to the struggle he had undertaken not an hour previous. The night was dark, but he was completely accustomed to the darkness. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that it was approaching or likely past the middle of the night. Had he been sober, he probably would have stopped and stayed at home without returning to the bar, but then again, sober ponies hardly make good business for a tavern, and Cider was far from sober. As such, he once again found himself pushing the front door open and stumbling over to his usual seat, for the second time that night.

Cider had, of course, passed beyond the realm of a regular customer. His presence at night in the tavern had become a standard fixture. His stool by the bar had garnered the unwritten custom of being reserved for him each night. Moonshine, the bartender pony, glanced up from behind his wooden edifice and shot his best customer a sideways grin. "No problems there, Cider?"

"I took care of it, Mooney."

====================================================================================

The floor was cold.

In fact, she felt completely cold all around, but the sensation appeared to mostly be coming from the floor. The wood had acquired a significant chill over the night, and she could feel it soaking through into her skin while she lay. In fact, she didn't even know why she was lying on the floor in the first place, she found that she was having a hard time thinking. All she knew was that she was laying on the floor, she was extremely cold, and she seemed to have a dull ache in the back of her head.

Applejack groaned. This was not a way she particularly wanted to start her morning. Truthfully, she didn't even know if it was morning, but she was waking up, and she hated waking up cold. As she lay, groaning, attempting to process her situation, she began to wonder, even though the act of thinking seemed to cause her head to ache slightly more, why she was on the floor in the first place. Her entire right side was flattened on the hard wood flooring, and the side of her face was pressed into the cold surface as well, imparting an uncomfortable chill to her cheek. It seemed all too unbearable. It was time to get up. She made to move her neck, to lift her head up off the floor. It seemed that the most logical way to pull herself to her hooves would be to get a good look at her surroundings, anyway.

Her eyelids had barely begun to rise and her head had only barely lifted off the floor when the true pain began. It was as if somepony had tried to drive a white-hot metal spike into the base of her neck as soon as she tried to move her head. Her mind immediately registered the searing report of thousands of nerve endings in her head and neck screaming in protest. She immediately dropped her head back down to the ground, shutting her eyes closed in agony. She tried to scream, but no sound would come.

The pain became too much. Her eyes flew open from the pure shock of the excruciating spike of unexplained agony. They were met with the nearly-blinding light of the sun coming through the newly-cleaned window. She immediately shut her eyes once again, the barrage of light only adding to her growing migraine. She knew she had to move. She felt far too exposed here. She needed to get something, anything, to help end the pain. Even with the protest of her splitting headache, she tried to shift her head. She tried to move her legs. They wouldn't budge. She didn't understand it. She could barely move her body at all. No matter how bright it was outside, she knew she had to open her eyes again. She had to see why she couldn't move.

It hurt to open her eyes, but not as much as it hurt the first time. Gradually, trying to focus on her surroundings, if only to distract herself from the headache that seemed to be ripping her head in two from ear to ear, she managed to hold her eyes open. They watered for a moment before she became fully adjusted to the light. She looked down at her hooves. Ropes. Her hind legs were gripped in a secure knot and tied to what appeared to be the pot-belly stove. She craned her head, ignoring the sudden renewed ripple of further pain, to see her front hooves. They were tied in a similar fashion. She was rendered completely immobile.

She hadn't noticed it before, but the shack was completely silent. Somehow, despite the pain it took to even think, she registered in the back of the mind that she seemed to be completely alone. It was almost certainly morning, yet the cabin seemed completely vacant. She had only begun to wonder where her father might be when the events of the night previous came flooding back to her in a sudden rush. She could hear him taunting her, insulting her, chuckling at her. She closed her eyes again, squinting them shut. She didn't want to think about last night. A tear rolled down her cheek, unchecked as it squeezed form between her clenched eyelids. She felt terrible. Even though she didn't remember the striking blow that had rendered her unconscious, she knew, somehow, that Cider had caused this. She hated him.

She had no way of measuring the passage of time. It couldn't have been long however, before her ears somehow managed to pick up the sound of a rusty hinge squeaking over the pain.

Had she been able to see him from her position, Applejack would have noticed that Cider looked even more drunk than she had ever seen him previously. He had spent the early hours of the morning in the bar before stumbling out at sunrise. He had fallen a few times on the journey home, and somehow, he was still intoxicated. He hadn't even begun to suffer from a hangover yet, although that would come later. He had stayed up all night drinking, and still wasn't thinking properly.

Applejack saw four brown hooves clumsily step their way in front of her. She felt a shadow fall over her as her father's looming figure blocking the shaft of sunlight that streaming in through the window. She saw him sway gently from side to side. She saw him seem to gain some level of balance. Then, she saw his front hoof lift from the ground and swing backwards before falling forwards, headed directly towards her. She shut her eyes again, wishing for all of this to just be some sort of horrible dream.

She felt each blow as it struck her. Eventually, each sudden spike of pain became an overwhelming dull, throbbing, pained sensation that seemed to emanate from her whole body. She struggled, the tight rope bonds twisting and burning her legs as she made a valiant and ultimately fruitless attempt to move. Blow after blow rained down upon her stomach, her chest, and her head. She could hear her father muttering slurred obscenities at her as he kicked again and again, and she could do nothing. Her entire body ached with a dull pain, her head and her chest most of all. Eventually, it became too much for her mind to even keep herself awake. She was finally granted a reprieve from the sensation of every blow as she blacked out once more.

==================================================================================

Celestia's brightly glowing sun had already risen to a high perch in the sky. It beat down on the rolling hills and sparse trees of the Equestrian countryside. It found four friends as they walked steadily onward towards a destination they knew not where. Three of them were sweating, even Rarity who, despite her natural inclination to avoid overstraining herself, was not complaining. Her mind, like the collective minds of all three of her companions, was focused on pressing forward and finding their other friends.

Pinkie Pie, however, seemed unfazed by the beating sun and the building midday heat. She led the group, pressing forward at a pace that the other three could never hope to match, her boundless energy serving to keep her going despite the heat. Every once in a while, she would glance over her shoulder and spy her friends, struggling to keep up, and, with no small amount of annoyance, stop and wait for them. "Come on you slow-pokes! We need to find Dashie!"

Rarity shot her a disapproving glare as she and Twilight Sparkle caught up and stopped next to Pinkie. The three then turned around and looked back down the trail. Fluttershy was struggling along, plainly tired already from the distance they had traveled. For the four of them, this was their second day of travel. Fluttershy had been sufficiently tired out the day before, and was no struggling to keep moving. "Are you Ok, dear?" Rarity gave her best friend a sympathetic frown as she final caught up.

"I'm… I'm… I'm sorry I'm holding everypony up." Fluttershy panted as she finally reached her friends, sitting down to give her aching legs a moment's reprieve. "I think… I think I'd like to rest, if that's ok with you girls."

"OK? But we need to find Dashie! We need to…" Pinkie Pie's outburst was abruptly cut off as she found Twilight Sparkle's hoof stuffed into her mouth.

"No, Pinkie. We're going to rest for a moment. Fluttershy's tired. I'm tired, Rarity is tired. We can't keep going like this."

"But we'll never find Dashie at this rate!" Pinkie Pie spoke as soon as Twilight had removed her hoof. Twilight hung her head. "We've only been walking for half a morning."

"Pinkie, if you want to keep going, you can leave us here. But we need rest."

Pinkie Pie swiveled and looked down the road. There was barely any sign of civilization anywhere. She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if actually considering taking off without her friends, before she too, sat down on the side of the road. "No. I'll stay here with you guys."

Fluttershy smiled at Pinkie, who began twirling her hoof in the dirt in agitation. Twilight reached into her saddle bags and pulled the map out again. She had checked it numerous times over their journey so far. There were now three magic dots glowing from the parchment. The third, a pale violet one, marked their own location. They were now over halfway to where the Rainbow Dash dot was. Twilight had noted with some surprise that Rainbow Dash seemed to still be getting closer to Applejack, even though she had no idea how the cyan pegasus could know where to go. They were getting close though, and that was what mattered most. "Don't worry Pinkie, we'll see her soon. Even if we have to walk through the night tonight. We'll find her." Everypony seemed encouraged by her words. Nopony heard the last two she spoke, under her breath, so quiet that only she could hear. "I hope."

==================================================================================

The night had taken its toll on Rainbow Dash. The nightmares had been unrelenting in their assault. She tried not to think of them as she flew well into the afternoon. She was now almost certain that she had only imagined the scent of apples the day before. Deftly, she continued to follow the road. It was the only direction-marker she had to go by. She was growing discouraged. She began to wonder if this road would even lead her to Applejack, or if she was simply following a road to nowhere. She continued to trace its course, however, as she had nothing else to follow.

She felt like she had been flying all day, she knew, however, that this wasn't true. She had only awoken around midday, much to her chagrin, after an uneasy sleep. It was now well into the afternoon, and she had been flying, and trying not to think, ever since she had woken up. The warm air of the day whipped at her face, blowing her mane into long, flapping, rainbow strands that fanned out behind her. The warm air was in stark contrast to the chill of night, which she had experienced both the previous night and the night before then.

She could feel beads of sweat running down her forehead frown her mane. These tiny droplets were almost immediately picked up by the rushing current of air and hurled off behind her into the unknown. She looked down. The road, the only familiar thing in sight, stretched out into the distance. Hills, trees, and numerous other unfamiliar land features filled the landscape around her. She could see a dense forest to her left, and the purple shades of distant mountains to her right. This part of Equestria was completely unknown to her, and the very real possibility that she might wind up lost weighed heavily on her mind. Still, she foraged ahead. The rolling hills beneath her eventually gave out to even flatter land.

The land seemed to stretch out to infinity, the road grew straight. Even the distant mountains seemed to recede from view as the dominating flat plain grew to encompass her entire field of vision. Rainbow Dash was initially surprised to note that the land beneath her had seemed to acquire a rhythmic pattern to it, as square after square of sectioned-off, geometrically partitioned land sprawled out before her. 'Farms.' She finally realized. 'some ponies must live out here after all.' She hadn't seen a sign of anypony else in this place since the few towns she had visited the day previous, so the sudden view of numerous farms came as a surprise to her.

As she flew, she barely registered the changing light. The sun had almost set by the time she realized sunset was even occurring. She was too distracted, and now faced another late evening of flying. She mentally cursed herself once again for waking so late. It was getting later and later, and she still didn't know where she was or if she was getting any closer to Applejack. She was used to flying at night, though.

She considered a few times whether or not she should ask one of the farmer-ponies if they had seen either Applejack or her father, but decided against it. The road only bordered what appeared to be outlying fields, and the actual farmhouses were likely a ways away. Even if she did take the extra time to fly far off from the road and find one, none of the farmer ponies would have been likely to see Applejack if she and her father had stayed on the road. It struck Rainbow Dash once again that she was absolutely reliant on Applejack having actually taken this road in order to find her. It probably would have been a good idea to bring a map or something.

She realized as the sun finally slipped below the horizon for good that she hadn't even spoken to anypony that day. She hadn't even seen anypony else since stopping in the few isolated towns she had seen the day before. She hadn't even seen a single such community for a whole day. Her nerves were growing frayed.

She was almost right upon it before she even saw it. Of course, in the darkness, it was hard to spot at all. It was so faint, and so undistinguishable from the surrounding land, that she at first thought it had been some sort of illusion. She looked again. Whatever it was, it was certainly there. There was a light below her, a light that seemed to be coming from a building. It looked dim, and it looked particularly small, but Rainbow Dash knew one thing: Where there were buildings, there were ponies. In one smooth arcing motion, she dived down from her altitude and beelined towards the weak light source. As she approached the light, it revealed itself to be a series of lanterns. They hung from a low overhanging roof of a building that lay in shadows. In fact, as she flew closer, she realized that the lanterns appeared to be surrounded by a series of shadowy buildings. She felt a chill fly up her spine, but even so, she flew onward.

Before she even knew it, she was in their midst. The buildings were there, alright, but they were dark, and all were in various stages of dis-use. Even in the dim moonlight, she could see how decrepit the various homes looked. Several even had old thatched roofs that appeared to have long ago caved in. It was as if somepony had taken Ponyville, left it abandoned, and fast-forwarded time several years. Rainbow Dash decided then and there that she did not like this place at all. She hit the ground running, taking her time and using her wings as brakes to bring herself down from her high speed of flight. She almost lost her balance as soon as her hooves touched the road beneath her, the surface was so dusty. She soon brought herself under control and slowed to a trot to arrive in front of the only lit building. The three hanging lanterns shone from in front of the façade, casting long shadows across the small piece of the street they illuminated. The whole place seemed creepy to Rainbow Dash. The hair stood up on the back of her neck. Looking at an old, faded sign, she realized that the place was a bar just before she made to enter. No matter. It was the only sign of civilization for miles. She had to go in. She had to see somepony. She had to know if she was going in the right direction. She stepped over the threshold.

She froze.

She blinked twice. She couldn't believe it. It just couldn't be real. In truth, she didn't know what she had been expecting when she pushed the door open, but this certainly wasn't it.

The bar stood on the other side of the large, poorly-lit room. There were few ponies in at this hour. In fact, there were only two. The first one was behind the bar, deftly wiping out the inside of a shot glass. He didn't look up from his work and he didn't notice her. Neither pony had noticed her. The other one also had a shot glass sitting near his hoof, this one, however, was full. As Rainbow watched, he managed to balance it on a brown hoof, and in one swift motion, brought it to his mouth, held his head back, and took the amber liquid inside down in one big gulp. His eyes were closed, but Rainbow Dash still got a good look at his face. There could be no denying it. Rainbow Dash knew this large brown earth pony. He was unmistakable.

She ducked into a shadowy corner near the door. For some reason, she felt like she didn't want to be seen. Across the room form her, Apple Cider returned his empty glass to the well-worn surface of the bar. Slowly, Rainbow Dash backed out through the door, careful not to make a noise. She knew she hadn't been seen, and she didn't plan on being seen either. She knew one thing: Applejack's father was in there, but Applejack wasn't. She didn't want to speak to him, especially if Applejack wasn't there. In truth, she was somewhat afraid of him. She was far too nervous to approach him, especially if he had been drinking, and Rainbow Dash suspected that that hadn't been his first drink that night. She slunk into an alley next to the bar, out of the lanterns' light. She was more than content to wait there for him. She knew that if she followed him, he would lead her to Applejack.

===================================================================================

Twilight Sparkle had been true to her word. The sun was only just rising, and they were still walking. They had continued on well into the night, just as she had promised Pinkie Pie. The energetic pink mare walked along at her side, her normally energetic bouncing replaced by a slow walk as she moved under an extra burden. Across her back, Fluttershy's soundly-sleeping form lay, rising and falling with each deep breath the yellow pegasus took. Twilight smiled at the sight. It was a testament to her pink friend's strength, and certainly her resolve as well, that she had carried the sleeping pegasus for miles, unwilling to stop for the night when the tired mare had literally fallen asleep on her hooves. It was, of course, not the first time Pinkie Pie had carried the pegasus, and she maintained that she was actually very light. It was still impressive nonetheless.

Despite having been walking for much of the night, Twilight Sparkle felt completely alive. To her right, Rarity, her face a mask of determination, looked just as awake and alert. At the moment, Rarity had the map. It floated along before her, caught up in her magical grip, and she looked excited. "Twilight, dear, look at this."

Twilight Sparkle trotted over to her friend, catching a glimpse of the floating map as the trio continued their journey onward. She saw that the golden and cyan dots had gotten very close indeed, and the lavender dot was catching up as well. "It looks like Rainbow found AJ after all."

"Well, I'm glad the poor dear isn't lost at least. She seems to be right on top of her."

Twilight glanced back to Pinkie Pie, who had been listening intently. The unicorn was surprised her pink friend wasn't saying anything, considering she was normally the most talkative pony she knew. She knew that the news must have excited the pink mare, however; the side grin that spread over the earth pony's face spoke volumes. They were getting close. Twilight Sparkle could feel it.

=================================================================================

Rainbow Dash didn't know what time the sun had risen. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep in the dust behind the tavern. She was grateful, however, that the sun had risen when it did, because it had woken her up, and had it not, she would have missed her quarry.

As it was, she was keeping her distance behind him. He had left the bar that morning, she knew that much. He was also massively drunk, this fact was plainly visible to her as she followed him along. He swayed and staggered as he walked, it seemed a miracle that he was able to stand up, let alone walk, at all. Rainbow Dash wondered if he would even notice her if she walked right up to him, he certainly seemed intoxicated to the point of being unaware of his surroundings. She didn't want to risk accosting him, though. She was content with following, unseen, as he walked. To make sure he didn't spot her by accident, she followed him at a good distance, ducking behind trees and shrubs every so often to stay out-of-sight.

He was walking up a hill now. Rainbow Dash had to cover her mouth with her hoof to prevent herself from laughing out loud as he stumbled and very nearly hit the ground, catching himself just in time. She didn't quite know why her mood had lightened so, maybe it was the prospect of being able to see Applejack once again that had her so giddy. She smiled, and as she watched, safely from behind a bush, he reached the summit of the hill and immediately began down the other side, disappearing from view. Taking this as her cue, she stepped out from behind the bush and flew to the top of the hill, crouching low and peering over the edge. She was looking down into a depression, a bowl that lay in the middle of a ring of gently-sloping hills. The trail led windingly down one of these, terminating at the edge of a run-down old cabin. As she watched, she saw Cider open the door of this shack and enter, allowing it to shut behind him. She could hear it squeak even from her perch a good distance away.

Alone once again, she realized that this presented her with a particular challenge. In typical fashion, Rainbow Dash hadn't truly thought through her actions or developed any real plan or course of action when she decided to follow Cider. She had acted mostly out of her own emotions and mostly without forethought, and now found herself essentially stuck. Regardless of how drunk he seemed, Rainbow Dash was sure the stallion would not take kindly to her barging into his home without any forewarning, and she certainly had no idea how Applejack would react.

Contemplating her predicament in this way, Rainbow Dash spent several moments crouched in the tall grasses of the hilltop, watching the shack for any further sign of movement. Seeing none, she decided it might be a safe bet that Cider had gone to bed to sleep off whatever pounding he had given his liver. Cautiously, she rose from her concealed hideout and flew, low to the ground, closer and closer to the house. It was a risk, she knew, to come so close. After all, she might be seen and the resulting confrontation would be difficult to explain away. It was worth it, however; to her to get the chance to possibly see Applejack once more. With the risk weighed in a summarily hasty fashion, she approached ever closer.

She stopped in front of the door. After all, this was someone else's house, and she didn't pretend to know Applejack's father all that well. Even if Applejack was in there, it was probably a bad idea to just go barging in anyway. Sighing, she decided against it and went around the shack to a window instead. She hovered at window level to peek inside. It took a few moments for her vision to adjust to the lower light inside.

The first thing she noticed was a distinct, and somewhat relieving, lack of stallion in the room. From what she could see, Cider was nowhere to be found. In fact, the room itself seemed deserted, except for what appeared to be the sleeping form of somepony, have obscured by shadow on the other side of the room from the window. Rainbow Dash was about to idly think to herself how silly it seemed for a pony to be sleeping on the hard floor when she looked closer.

She saw the ropes on the shadow-pony's hooves. She saw the ruffled, unkempt appearance of mottled, orange fur in the deep shadow. She saw a blonde mane and tail, unruly and distraught-looking. She wasn't sure, but as she looked closer, her fear mounting, she thought she could see a trickle of red on the back of an all-too-familiar orange head. She couldn't see the pony's face, but she knew who it was almost instantly, and she felt her blood run colder than any chilly night spent in the open.

To her credit, Rainbow Dash didn't occupy herself so much with the morality of barging into the cabin when she actually did it. She was barely even registering her surroundings. One moment, she was outside, staring in shock through the window, and the next she found herself barreling straight through the door and dashing to the side of the prone pony. She wasn't thinking – except for the constant thought of one word, one word that grew to dominate her mind and seemed to thud in her ears with each beat of her heart. 'Applejack. Applejack. Applejack.'

Her heart was racing. It was too much to contain. She skidded to a halt at the hooves of the orange mare. She screamed. "APPLEJACK!"

Rainbow Dash didn't know exactly what she had been expecting when she set out to find her lover. Whatever it was, however, had been nothing compared to what she found herself confronted with. Applejack was lying on the floor, tied up, and not moving. Her mane, tail, and coat were messy and ruffled. Her normally orange fur was matted and splotched with what Rainbow Dash could only assume was either dried blood or serious bruising. The back of her head held a nasty wound, a wide bruise with an open gash that had already bled significantly onto the floor below. Rainbow Dash stood in shock for longer than she even knew, disbelief etched into her face.

It had only just occurred to her panicked mind that it might be a good idea check her marefriend's breathing, she heard a noise. Her mind was completely lost, the shock of her lover's battered and bruised body was enough to captivate her attention to a degree of near complete unawareness of her surroundings. The adrenaline coursing through her veins at seemingly hypersonic speeds was her saving grace, however. On pure reflex, she whipped around to face the source of the noise.

At first, Rainbow Dash didn't understand. To her unbalanced mind, there appeared to be half of a pony staring at her. It was only when the imposing figure of Apple Cider loomed out of what appeared to be a hole in the floor did she finally come to her senses enough to whisper, let alone say, anything. "You."

At first, the stallion didn't respond. He just grinned. It was a wide, terrifying grin that exposed his teeth, stained yellow after years of alcohol consumption. Rainbow Dash fell silent, able only to stare back at him in a mixture of horror and disbelief. "Looksh like the little fillyfooler hash come for her fillyfriend."

"Y… you."

"I never got the chansh to properly thank you. Thank you for turning my daughter into one of your own. Now I have a fillyfooler to dishgrace my name and my family, and I only have you to blame."

"W… what?"

"You know perfectly well what," The stallion's gaze turned hard, and he slowly began advancing upon Rainbow Dash. She cowered back in fear, her hooves slipping backwards as he approached her.

"W… what h-have… you…"

"I think you've overshtayed yer welcome." The much larger stallion glared at her, crouching as if about to pounce.

Rainbow Dash quivered, backing up ever further from the advancing stallion. She looked down, unwilling to meet his eye, and bowed her head as if to protect it. "W-what h-have you… d-done…? What have you d-done? What have you done?" Prior to her brush with death, Rainbow Dash had been known for her rather significant outbursts of anger. She had garnered somewhat of a reputation for being hot-headed and quick-tempered, but that, of course, had melted away when her very nearly successful suicide attempt had left her but a shell of her former self. In the months since, it had been as if she had somehow taken her old personality and shoved it as far inside herself as possible, having not had another outburst since her deeply-regretted shouting match with rarity in the hospital ward.

The trouble with holding emotions inside, however, has always been that they never seem to be able to stay within indefinitely. Always, without failing, they tend to find their way out, and like the proverbial dyke with a single crack, all the anger, frustration, and pent-up rage of multiple tortuous months of emotional imbalance came exploding out without a moment's notice. Rainbow Dash's eyes squinted shut. She clenched her jaw. She couldn't fight the flood any longer. When her eyes opened, they may as well have been twin blazing magenta infernos. "WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE!"

To say that Cider was surprised would have been a gross understatement. The mare before him had seemed timid, cowardly and submissive even. As it was, he wasn't prepared to deal with her fighting back, much less launching herself at him of her own volition. He was unable to dodge the speeding bullet that was Rainbow Dash.

She hit him square in the chest with her shoulder, feeling the satisfying sensation of his hooves giving way and collapsing beneath him as she plowed through him. She came to a halt just above and behind him, glaring as she watching him struggle to both regain his hooves and to keep track of her. She snarled at him, her wings viciously beating the air around her. She dove at him, this time landing a direct hit to his snout with her hoof before she angled upward once again.

She executed a perfect arcing turn in the air, pulling a complete horseshoe before entering another shallow dive, headed straight for him. In her haste, she forgot to watch him, and before she knew it, he had regained his footing and was prepared to take a swipe at her as she dove.

His hoof just barely clipped her wing, a glancing blow that would probably have been far more on-target and far more damaging had he been sober. Even so, she still momentarily lost precious balance, only barely managing to flip herself back up into the air before crashing to the ground. Cider was back on his hooves and glaring at her, but Rainbow Dash knew he couldn't keep track of her that well.

Her mind was working at a furious pace, as one is apt to do during such situations of rushing adrenaline and pure excitement. In the span of a few instants, she was already diving again, this time swerving and zigzagging through the air in a pattern designed to confuse him as much as possible. Her theatrics paid off beautifully, unable to keep track of her movements in his inebriated state, Cider resorted to taking a completely blind swipe at the air in front of him as the cyan blur that was Rainbow Dash flashed across his vision.

His hoof met nothing but air, and his blind swipe left him dangerously exposed. Like a missile, Rainbow Dash zeroed in on his exposed side and rammed him once again, knocking him onto his side once again and proceeding to pepper his soft underbelly with her front hooves. She had, however, in her wild movement, misjudged her angle of attack. She suffered a glancing blow to her head against his side where she had expected to hit with her shoulder. The disorientation was enough to slow her reaction time just enough that, as she was preparing to jump off the confused and dazed stallion, he managed to score a hit of his own to her chest.

Rainbow Dash could almost immediately feel her breath leave her, but the adrenaline-powered reflex controlling her wings did not allow her to stop and regain that breath. She was soon back up in the air, where she was safe at least, but she was gasping. She managed just barely to keep herself in the air long enough to get her lungs refilled again before she glanced down at her opponent. He was struggling to right himself after the series of blows he had taken. He had his back turned to her.

Rainbow Dash could still feel a dull pain in her chest. She glared, her eyes ablaze once more. If anything, the lucky shot only hardened her resolve. He wasn't going to get another chance at hitting her. He would hurt her, and he wouldn't hurt Applejack, ever again. He had his back to her. He never saw her coming.

From near the ceiling, she blazed down out of the sky straight towards him. At the last second, she threw her body into a spin, protecting her head and already bruised chest by throwing her left side around to hit him. Her quick burst of speed had already brought her to a crushing velocity when she collided with his bulk. The force of the impact was enough to seemingly shake the entire shack, and it sent Cider sprawling.

Reeling from the midair collision, Rainbow Dash, with her wings folded against her sides for protection, tucked her head and legs into her body and executed a crash-landing that quickly became a high-speed roll. For several seconds, she tumbled across the hard floor before coming to a stop. Dazed and dizzy, she groggily froze to her hooves again, ready to face her opponent even as her vision swam and the world spun before her. She was surprised, however, not to see the stallion anywhere.

She closed her eyes and shook her head a few times in an attempt to clear her vision. Opening them again, she found that he was still nowhere to be seen. Cautiously, she crept forward, peering down at the floor in front of her in disbelief.

Before her, the gaping maw that she now recognized to be a trap-door of some sort stood out black against the wood floor. As she inched her way closer, she was able to see down into what appeared to be a small room below. Even in the dim light, she could see something big lying at the base of the steps. The large, brown form of the stallion lay crumpled against the stone floor, having apparently struck each step on the way down. And even with a significant lack of light in the space, Rainbow Dash could plainly see the pool of red, seeping from the stallion's head and expanding outward onto the stone. He did not move.

Her heart and mind both working far too fast for her to stay and process what her eyes saw, she scoffed at the body and turned to look up, her gaze falling across that which was her primary focus.

"Applejack." In an instant, Rainbow Dash was at the orange mare's side. She hadn't seen it before, but the other mare's sides were slightly, almost imperceptibly, rising with the effort of labored breath. Rainbow Dash crouched down and buried her nose under her injured marefriend's head. "Come on, Applejack. Wake up. Wake up, AJ. I need to get you outta here."

She felt a slight stirring against her face, she pulled back for fear of hurting the already pained earth pony, and watched as Applejack struggled to lift a single eyelid. A brilliant, emerald-green eye stared back up at her. "R… R-Rainbow?"

"That's right, AJ. I'm here. I'm here and everything is Ok now. Everything is Ok." Rainbow Dash tried to smile, but even she found it hard to believe her own words.

"Dash… Dash… where's… where's mah Pa?"

"He's gone, AJ. He's gone. I took care of him. He won't hurt anypony ever again."

"Dash… please…" Applejack took a deep, ratcheting breath, gasping and unable to finish what she was about to say.

"What, what is it Applejack? I'll do anything for you. What is it?"

"Be… be strong."

"W… what?"

"Be strong. Be strong fer me Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash understood. She shook her head. "No… no…. Don't… don't talk like that, AJ. You're… you're going to be f… f-fine." She choked on her last word.

"Be strong fer me."

"No. NO! Come on, Applejack! Don't leave, don't leave me. You can't! I… I need you! I need you to stay here with me. You can't leave."

"You… you need to be strong, Rainbow. You need to be…"

"No. No. No. No. I don't believe you. You're going to be fine. You can't leave. I… I won't let you."

Applejack's eyes closed, she was sweating, the pain of trying to keep talking was taking its toll. "Dash… I… I… lo…" Applejack gasped and her eyes flew open. In her last remaining seconds, she locked gazes with Rainbow Dash, trying to convey her final message even as her head fell and her eyes closed for the last time.

"A… Applejack? Applejack, No!" Rainbow Dash, rushed forward, grasping the orange pony around the shoulders. She shook her. "Come on, AJ. Stay with me! Stay with me! You can't leave! You just can't. I love you too much! Come on, don't do this to me! I love you! Come on, love, stay with me!"

She shook even harder, even more. It wasn't enough. It was never enough. She grasped Applejack to her chest, trying to keep her warm even as she felt the earth pony's body begin to grow cold. She collapsed to the ground, her head falling across her lover's neck. She could feel no breathing; no heartbeat. "You… you can't leave."

Chapter 7

Long, waving tendrils of golden prairie grasses whispered in the wind as they were blown back and forth, waving across the clear blue sky of the nearly impeccable summer day. The breeze, although light, did have a profound cooling effect on the day, as the dry heat of the sun was dissipated somewhat by the flow of cooling air. The backdrop behind the blowing grasses was pristine, an unbroken swath of sky that held not a cloud. From their position at the bottom of the hill, the four assembled ponies could easily see almost every blade of grass, distinct and easily spotted against the untouched sky at the hill's crest.

It was an image that captivated their senses and lightened their spirits. They had come far, having walked well through the night and into the pristine morning to reach this point. Although they could see nothing but the prairie and sparse trees that surrounded them, they knew they were close. Their path led up the hill, and so they followed it.

The hill was altogether not very steep, but the walk still seemed a long one, dragged out by the anticipation of what they would find at the culmination of their difficult journey. Twilight Sparkle was studying the map as they made the climb. Some time ago, the cyan dot and the golden dot had merged into the same location, and the lavender dot was fast approaching that same place. The golden dot had now disappeared altogether, but Twilight assumed that this meant their friends had found each other and were now too close together for the spell to distinguish them on the map. They were getting close, Twilight could almost feel it. "Come on girls, we're almost right on top of them, it's just to the top of this hill!"

By now, the strain of going without sleep and walking for so long was beginning to wear on them, except Twilight, for whom the discovery of how close they were had seemed to give an unending reserve of perseverance, and Fluttershy, who had slept on Pinkie Pie's back for several hours. This had, conversely, left much of Pinkie's famous stores of energy largely depleted, and she struggled on, panting for breath. Rarity was no better off.

As it so happened, Fluttershy, anxious to see two of her best friends again, flew excitedly to the top of the hill, where she promptly stopped and turned to call back down to her companions. "Girls, there's a cute little house just down the other side! Come on!"

Twilight Sparkle, her face seeming to light up, quickly charged up the remainder of the slope and took a position at the side of her pegasus friend. The trail led from where they stood down in a winding path to its culmination, at which point stood an ancient-looking shed. It had clearly seen better days. The windows were dark, the paint was peeling away and faded, and the majority of the houses outside had exposed raw wood, to which the elements had taken their toll. No matter how worn-down it looked, however, there was no denying the small cabin had charm. In was, after all, located in a strangely idyllic setting, and most of the damages were cosmetic. It appeared as if a recent attempt had even been made to clean it up some. There could be no doubt that, no matter how dark the windows were, this place was lived-in. "That has to be the place!" Twilight Sparkle was nearly giddy with excitement.

"What is it, darling?" Rarity panted as she finally reached the hilltop, before turning an eye to the dwelling before them and jerking backwards in feigned horror. "Oh, my. That place is absolutely hideous. Are you certain they're here, Twilight? I can't possibly imagine anyone wanting to go anywhere near that place!"

"This has to be it Rarity! The map says we're right on top of them, and there isn't another place around anywhere! They can only be here!"

"If you say so, darling." Rarity flipped her mane, which had grown, much to her indignation, rather ungroomed, over her shoulder and set of down the winding trail on the reverse slope. The others quickly followed suit. It was not long before they reached the door. Rarity stood aside, refusing to even touch the aged, battered wood of the door. Twilight snickered at this, before reaching up and tapping several times with her own hoof. They waited several moments. There was no response. "Maybe they really aren't here?"

"But they have to be, there's nowhere else!" Feeling the burning sting of three sets of eyes, all concentrated on her, Twilight Sparkle threw the door open. It groaned in protest as it swung inward, letting the brilliant light of the day to flood through the doorway as well as the windows, filling the dark space before them and illuminating the scene.

It had only happened to her three times before in her life. The first time, she had been unsuccessfully trying to contemplate and understand the phenomena that was Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense, and when she was unable to do so, she had seemingly exploded in a fit of uncomprehending rage. The second time, she had stressed over the possibility of being late turning in a friendship report to Princess Celestia, a fear which had ultimately led to a near complete erosion of her logical mind and the near destruction of Ponyville. The third time, she had very nearly gone into a catatonic state after being told that two of her best friends were in critical condition in the hospital – her desire to see them and make sure they were okay being the only thing that kept her from a complete mental breakdown on the mad dash to the hospital.

Standing in the threshold of the doorway, Twilight Sparkle experienced for the fourth time in her life a near complete relapse in the powers of her logical mind. Before her, a mare who she considered one of the best friends she had ever known, the mare who had first extended a warm, welcoming hoof to her on her first visit to Ponyville, lay unmoving. Applejack was bloodied, beaten, and immobile. From where Twilight Sparkle stood, her injuries looked severe. Crouched over the mottled orange body, her six-colored tail lying limp on the floor behind her, Rainbow Dash knelt, her back to the now-shocked new arrivals.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash stood up from her position. Gingerly, she picked herself up off the broken body of her former lover, and turned around to face the occupants of the open door. Her face looked sullen, her eyes hollow, as if they had retreated back into their sockets in an attempt to avoid the outside world. Her wings hung limply at her side, her mane and tail no better. She walked with a limp, favoring her front right hoof in an attempt to keep weight off of it. She looked worn-out, broken, and defeated. Her magenta eyes, lacking the flame that had once burned in a perfect resemblance of her fiery spirit, now appeared bleak, seemingly devoid of emotion and life as they stared blankly at the four ponies in the doorway.

Rainbow Dash didn't know how, or even why, she was now standing face-to-face with her best friends. She didn't know how they had found her, but her confusion did not show. She was beyond the point of confusion. As if resigning herself to some fate, she accepted their appearance without even seeming surprised that they were there. When she spoke, her voice was surprisingly calm, like that of a prisoner who has been beaten into submission, and finally, defeated. "You guys are too late."

Nopony could really make much sense of the situation. It was far too much of a shock for them to easily comprehend. Instead, they just stood there, staring blankly and stupidly into the room, not knowing what to do at all. Even Twilight Sparkle, usually so quick-witted and on-top of whatever situation she was faced with, was still reeling. She squinted her eyes closed and ducked her head, as if the whirring of her mental cogs – trying to regain their composure after being thrown for such a whirl – was causing her physical pain.

Rainbow Dash turned away from her heads and once again approached Applejack's lifeless form. She knelt down to the ground gingerly, before letting herself drop onto her side, lying next to the orange mare she had loved so much. Closing her eyes, she rested her head next to Applejack's, breathing in her scent and trying to pretend that the day's proceedings had been nothing but a dream. She had no such luck.

The effects shock can have on the mind are remarkable. It can literally freeze all motor control in the brain, leaving the victim standing stock-still in a dazed confusion. The first reaction to being presented with a shocking situation is normally disbelief; it is the body's natural defense against emotional damage to discount its sensory perception as untrue. This can often lead to further confusion, as the brain, in a defense mechanism, tells itself that what it sees, hears, and feels is false, while the senses say otherwise. This is why it is quite often very hard to think clearly when in shock, for the brain and the senses are literally sending conflicting messages. For this reason, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were left unequivocally speechless, literally unable to comprehend the situation facing them, and certainly unable to accept that Applejack was dead. In this way, they continued to stare in complete and utter confusion, discrediting what their eyes told them and at the same time not knowing what to believe. To them, their friend wasn't dead; she couldn't be. It was impossible.

Twilight Sparkle, however, had always taught herself to think rationally, logically, using reason and clear, concise thought patterns. For her, the sudden derailment of her train of thought had been violent and extremely nerve-wracking, but the repair crew was fast. So despite nearly losing the power of rational thought for the fourth time in her life, Twilight Sparkle was able to recover quickly. Far sooner than her companions had even begun to descend back into reality, her mind was already back on track and building up a full head of steam. Her subconscious, reacting the way she had trained it to for years, was already searching for solutions: memories, ideas, spells, lessons, anything that might help her to better understand the situation. As an academic, it was all she knew to do when faced with a problem: find a solution. Using her own vast body of experience and knowledge to apply to a problem was second-nature to her, and so her mind worked of its own volition.

Slowly, she began to walk forward. She continued to stare at Applejack's face. Her eyes were closed, her fur matted, a tiny stream of red blood ran down from behind her head onto her neck and shoulders. Rainbow Dash lay next to her, her eyes closed as well. Their foreheads were touching, as if Rainbow could still feel the presence of life when they touched, as they had so many nights before. "Rainbow… what… what happened?"

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and cocked her head slightly to fix her hollow gaze upon her lavender unicorn friend. "It was her father. It was always her father. He was just as much a mean drunk as when he left. I should've seen it coming, but I didn't, and now she's dead."

"Her… her father did this?"

"Yeah. He… he… he beat her to death, Twilight." Rainbow Dash shook her head. Twilight cringed. "How… how could he do that? To… to his own daughter? It… it just… it just doesn't make any sense."

"Where is he now?"

"He's over there somewhere." Rainbow Dash gestured vaguely towards the center of the room with her hoof. "He's dead too. I killed him. I don't care. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore."

For a long while, no one said anything. Twilight took this news in stride, she didn't care either, really, his fate was now less important than Applejack's fate. In truth, although she would probably never admit it, she felt slightly glad at the thought that whoever had done this had gotten his in turn. It felt like justice, in a way. It was a well-needed dosage of justice.

It was a good time before Rainbow Dash spoke again. "I… I can't stand it, Twilight. She just… she looks like she's in so much pain. I want to make her feel better, but I can't. She can't feel anything now, and I can't do anything to help her. I just can't stand it."

"Maybe… maybe I can… clean her up… if you'd like." Twilight tried to lay a reassuring hoof over her friend's shoulder. Rainbow Dash just brushed it off as she stood up.

"Do whatever you want. It won't make a difference."

Twilight Sparkle stood over the broken body of one of her best friends. Her horn began to fill with magic, casting a faint aura around itself. The same magical aura wrapped its way around Applejack's still, prone form. Slowly, the bruising disappeared. Methodically, Twilight continued to comb over her friend's body. Her magic healed every bruise, removing the dark, faded hues from her orange coat. Every cut was magically sealed, and even the blood that had flown onto her fur was removed. She worked her way up from the base of Applejack's tail, healing every injury – from the smallest scrape to the largest bruise – as she went. As she reached the earth pony's chest, she discovered several cracked ribs. She winced at the thought of the pain Applejack must have experienced in her final moments.

She had taken a course in Canterlot called Medicinal Magic while she was studying under Princess Celestia. She had learned everything from healing minor cuts to setting and healing broken bones in that class, although she had never put the skills to practice in the real world up until this point. She performed flawlessly, her mind operating on an entirely different level. She was able to recall with perfect clarity almost every moment of that class, her mind playing out each memory of each lesson like a video before her eyes. She fixed the cracked ribs. She scanned inside her friend's body for any more internal injuries. The one to the back of her head was by far the worst, but with a little magical care, even it too had been sealed and repaired. Before long, the young earth pony with the orange pelt looked like she had not a problem in the world, save the fact that she would not breathe.

Twilight Sparkle bowed her head when she was done. Her friend was clean, she no longer looked hurt, and she no longer looked in pain. Somehow, the lavender unicorn felt as if she had done her part to heal the bond that had been lost. She knew, deep down, however, that that bond was broken forever. Six friends had become five; a pony had lost her lover. Those bonds would never heal, no matter how much magic was applied. Twilight Sparkle knew it, but she didn't want to believe it. She closed her eyes; she could no longer look at Applejack anymore, it was too painful. "Th-there… she could… she could be… sleeping."

Unbeknownst to Twilight, her other friends had gathered in the room around her. Rainbow Dash knelt down to touch her forehead to Applejack's, glad at least that she looked peaceful, and no longer so pained. Pinkie Pie's mane and tail had fallen, they lay limply across her back and draped to the ground. Her eyes were closed, and she appeared to be whispering something, although none could hear what she was saying. Rarity stood next to Twilight, her eyes fixed on Applejack's still form. Fluttershy huddled beside her, shivering slightly, but looking on all the same. Rarity looked up to see her shaking friend. She lay a hoof across the yellow pegasus's shoulder, but even she knew that there was little comfort she could give. "Are you ok, darling?" She knew what the answer was, but somehow, she felt as if talking would help.

"No."

Rarity looked down again. Locks of golden mane lay loosely across Applejack's face. She looked for all the world like she was just in a deep sleep. Rarity tried to believe that that was the case, that Applejack would wake up soon and this would all be over. It would just be a misunderstanding. There was never anything wrong. She tried to believe it, but she couldn't. Applejack was dead, and it didn't make any sense. "I just… I just don't understand." Rarity looked to her left. Twilight's head was bowed as if with respect. Rarity didn't know where else to turn. She needed answers. She needed some sort of confirmation that her eyes were not betraying her; that what she saw was real, and not some horrible nightmare. "She's… she's really gone, isn't she?" There was no response. "Twilight?" Still nothing. "Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight's mind had already been working at a furious pace. It was switched onto an entirely new track as soon as she heard her name. Sparkle… Sparkle… Sparkle…. At first, Twilight was confused. It was her name; she heard it numerous times each day. She didn't know why, but it seemed important. Somehow, right in this moment, something about her name seemed very important indeed. Her mind latched onto it and would let go. Sparkle… Sparkle… Spark….

Twilight's eyes flashed open in an instant. She understood. She understood everything. Spark. That was it. All she needed was a spark.

"Twilight, Darling?" Rarity looked at her friend, her concern mounting as a smile seemingly grew from nowhere and plastered itself across Twilight Sparkle's face. "Oh… she really is gone, isn't she?"

"Not necessarily." Twilight Sparkle's answer surprised everypony, including herself.

Rainbow Dash stood up, turning to face the others. Rarity flinched. There was something in the pegasus's eyes that she had not seen before, or at least, for a very long time.

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight Sparkle. This was just too much. "What do you mean, 'not necessarily'?"

Twilight Sparkle stared right back at her, her eyes wide in excitement. "We still have time!"

Rainbow Dash could feel her eyelids narrowing. She tried to fight it. She didn't want to get angry with Twilight, not here, not now. She knew she shouldn't. She knew she should hold it back, but it was too much. "How can we still have time? How can we still have time, Twilight? Huh? She's dead! She's dead! She died in my hooves! I felt her stop breathing! Don't you tell me we still have time! There's nothing we can do!" Rainbow Dash was breathing hard and fast now, even as she fought to remain calm. It was a losing battle.

Rarity and Fluttershy started backing up, fearful of rainbow Dash's increasingly threatening posture. Pinkie Pie remained completely unresponsive. Twilight merely smiled more and stared right back at Dash. "How long, Rainbow. How long ago was it?"

"How should I know? Not more than an hour ago, but didn't you hear me? THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO."

"But what would you do, Rainbow Dash." Twilight drew close, meeting Rainbow Dash's eye. "If you could do anything, what would you do?"

"What are you saying? I loved her. Do you hear me? I LOVED HER! I… I…" Rainbow Dash fell silent, averting her gaze. She couldn't do it. She couldn't yell at Twilight. It wasn't right, and it wasn't worth it. She took a few halting breaths, almost choking on her own air, before she tried to respond in as calm a voice as she could muster. "I… I loved her. I loved her so much, and I'd do anything to get her back, but there's nothing I can do. I… I miss her so much, but there's nothing I can do."

"Kiss her."

"What?"

"Kiss her."

Rainbow Dash was silent for a while. She gazed incredulously at Twilight, who only smiled back. "Are you going crazy again?"

"No."

"Then why are you…"

"Do as I say."

"But… but you…"

"Do it."

Rainbow Dash looked down. Applejack's eyes were closed. She looked truly peaceful. She no longer seemed to be in the pain Rainbow Dash had seen her endure less than an hour previous. She looked rested, comfortable, even. Rainbow Dash was besieged by numerous memories of seeing Applejack asleep before – often waking up in the same bed as her lover and finding the earth pony's head draped over her own chest. Rainbow Dash fought away the visions. She didn't want to think about such times right then. It was too painful. She looked back up at Twilight once more, the lavender unicorn mare doing nothing but cock her head slightly, as if egging Rainbow Dash on. Rainbow Dash looked back down at Applejack. She tried to pretend she was still alive. She tried to pretend they were just sharing one, last, final parting kiss. She closed her eyes and leaned forward.

It had not even been an hour since Rainbow Dash had felt Applejack's life slip away. She didn't know exactly how long it had been, but she knew it wasn't too long. Even so, Applejack's lips felt slightly cold already – clammy, even. Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes shut. She tried to will herself to believe that she was alive, but it was too hard. The touch of her lips felt lifeless in and of itself, and Rainbow Dash could hardly stand it. She didn't even know why Twilight had told her to do such a thing, let alone why she had agreed to despite her misgivings. It was no use. It only reminded Rainbow Dash that Applejack was dead. They would never share another real kiss again. She tried to pull away.

She couldn't. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes in surprise and tried to look around Applejack's face, even though it occupied her full vision. She tried to pull away again, harder this time, but to no avail. She became vaguely away that both she and Applejack seemed to be held together by some sort of invisible force. She fought to try and pull away, but found herself immobile. She gradually fell limp, and in doing so, noticed that she wasn't touching the ground anymore. She was floating. She renewed her struggle, desperate to get out of the position she was in, but met no success. Finally, she managed to jerk her head slightly and got a glimpse around Applejack's face. They were surrounded by a purple aura of magic. She wanted to scream, but her mouth remained locked in place.

It was at about this point that Pinkie Pie snapped out of her semi-catatonic state. Startled by the strange purple glow that seemed to be emanating throughout the room, she found herself backing up. She crouched along the back wall with Fluttershy and Rarity, watching in a strange mix of fascination and horror as the scene before them unfolded. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were joined at the mouth. They were floating in a bright purple magical aura above the floor, hovering in the middle of the room. Twilight Sparkle stood stock-still before them, her horn aglow in a brilliant swirling cone of magic that was so intense and so bright that it was very nearly white. The entire room was lit by the light of her horn. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie had to squint and shield their eyes at the sight of it.

Had they not been so focused on the raw display of pure magical energy, they might have noticed the sky outside growing dark. Even as the room was lit by the piercingly brilliant glow from Twilight's horn, the light coming from the window's and still-open door gradually faded before petering out and vanishing altogether. Outside, the sun had become obscured. Clouds, seemingly drawn by the sheer power of the growing conflagration of magical energy, covered the landscape as far as the horizon. Precisely over the cabin, they began to swirl. The growing mass of grey clouds spun faster and faster as the lightshow within the cabin grew greater and greater. The darkness of the outside prairie was now lit by whatever magical glow found its way out through the windows and door.

The wind started as a mere breeze, but it too picked up speed as the air seemingly fizzed and crackled with energy. The clouds continued to spin faster, forming a sort of rotating spiral directly above the shack. Suddenly, the entire scene flashed. A bolt of lightning shot down from the growing maelstrom, illuminating the entire scene, including inside the cabin, with a brilliantly dazzling flash of light. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie cowered together, raising their hooves to defend themselves and squeezing their eyes shut. The clap of thunder that followed was close. Too close. It shook the small structure when it sounded out. Fluttershy screamed. Rarity held her close, gripping her to her chest as Pinkie hugged them both just as tight. With fear in her eyes, Rarity braved the blinding light only momentarily to stare wide-eyed at her friend. Twilight Sparkle had now risen into the air as well, her hovering form mere inches from those of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "Twilight, what's going on? What are you doing?"

Twilight Sparkle was beyond hearing her. She was forcing herself to concentrate too hard to hear anything. Around her, the weather continued to spin, the clouds and wind whipping the long prairie grasses outside into a frenzy as they circled the tiny cabin. The flashes of lightning grew closer, faster, and brighter. The thunder became louder, enormous booms ringing out in quick succession as the entire scene snapped and crackled under the torture of so much pent-up energy. Twilight Sparkle's body was twitching in the air. It was as if it was fighting, desperate to end the spell. Her horn burned, it felt, and looked, white-hot. The searing pain made Twilight feel as if her would just erupt into flames any second. Still, she held on. It took all of her power, all of her focus, and every ounce of magical energy she had to keep herself from falling and losing the spell. This was her only chance. She had to make it count.

Her body witched wildly. Her mind screamed at her to give it up. Her eyes were screwed shut. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all screamed in the background. The constant booming of thunder and flashing and banging of lightning strikes merged into one horrendous noise, a terrible conflagration of sound and light that seemed to jar the very landscape. The ever-resent roar seemed to mix in with the rapidly swirling clouds and wind, trashing the house with air, light, and sound all at once. The cacophony rose to a crescendo, overtaking every thought and every sense the ponies had, occupying their entire stream of conscious. Their minds were filled with the constant roar; the light blinded them even with their eyes closed.

Twilight Sparkle's eyes shot open. She seemed one with the storm; her eyes were glowing with the same white-hot intensity that seared the very air.

And in that instant, in that one, incredible instant, when the world itself seemed like it was coming to an end, the brightest light of all shone. Nopony saw it. They couldn't even see, for all the brilliance that permeated the entire scene. It was a blue light, nothing but a mere tiny dot, but it was brighter than all else. It shone intensely as it rose from the depths of rainbow Dash's mouth, before passing into Applejack and disappearing from all existence with a tremendous flash.

In that split second, everything stopped. The noise was no more. The blinding light was no more. The swirling clouds, held in their spiral only by centrifugal force, were flung out in all directions as soon as their magical connection was snapped. The wind died down as the sky cleared, the long grasses, many of which had been flattened, waving around limply before coming to a halt as well. For many long moments, the world was completely still.

=====================================================================================

Rarity's ears were ringing.

She sat up groggily, having passed out she didn't know how long ago. Beside her, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were just stirring. All three groaned. Rarity tried to open her eyes, but they hurt for some reason. It took her all of her willpower just to blink them open, and then even more just to keep from closing them again. She blinked numerous times, the features of the room swimming before her in a vivid soup of indistinguishable color. She shook her head, and that seemed to help some. She kept shaking, and the ringing in her ears died down. Her vision slowly settled itself into normality.

She tried to settle herself, feeling dizzy as she stood up. Beside her, Pinkie Pie has rubbing her ears and grimacing in pain. Fluttershy held her hooves to her eyes and held her ears flat against her head. Rarity looked to her front.

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack all lay crumpled on the ground before her. None of them moved.

Rarity panicked. She had quite some time ago forgotten any pretext of the regality that was normally such a defining part of her personality. As such, she charged headlong towards the center of the cabin, skidding to a halt before Twilight Sparkle, who had fallen nearest. Frantically, she began shaking her fellow unicorn vigorously, her eyes growing wide in horror when she received no response. "Twilight! Twilight Sparkle? Can you hear me? CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

It was at this moment that a noise caught Rarity's attention. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash, laying on her back and groaning as she struggled to right herself. Rainbow, for some unexplained reason, felt completely sore all over. "What… what in the hay just happened?"

Rarity's breathing was coming in ragged gasps and erratic bursts. She quivered in her place, her dishevel mane long-forgotten. "You… you… and Applejack… and Twilight… floating… and magic… storms… I don't… I don't… know."

"Wait… Twilight? What was Twilight do- TWILIGHT!" Dash yelled as soon as she saw the lavender unicorn, crumpled on the floor, lying not a yard from her. She pushed Rarity, who was beside herself now and mostly useless, out of the way and stood over Twilight Sparkle. She looked down. Twilight's eyes were closed. Bending down, she put her ear to her friend's mouth and listened intently. Her eyes grew wide with terror when she found she could not hear anything. "Come on, Twi. Not you too." She bit back her tears as she placed both front hooves squarely over her unicorn friend's exposed chest. She pushed, counting off in her head just as she had done in Flight School Emergency Training Class, so long ago. She finished pumping and returned her ear to her friend's mouth. Still nothing. "Please… Don't make me do this..."

She had no choice. She planted her mouth around Twilight Sparkle's and exhaled hard. She removed her lips several times, taking a deep breath each time before returning to the unicorn's mouth and delivering each new lungful of air. Twilight Sparkle's chest rose each time, only to fall again when Rainbow Dash finally came up again, gasping for air. Immediately, she returned to her friend's chest and began pumping again with her forehooves, grunting loudly each time she pressed down. "Come… on… you… egg… head…. Loosen…up…"

She jumped backwards as soon as she heard the unicorn gasp. Twilight Sparkle's eyes flew open and she drew in several deep, cleansing breaths of air, her pupils swelling to nearly fill her eyes as she did so. She laid there, her chest heaving with each dearly-needed gasp, until her breathing stabilized. Rainbow Dash wiped a streak of sweat off her forehead with a hoof before falling backwards, groaning in a combination of relief and despair. She tried not to look at Applejack's still form. She didn't want to be reminded of her loss. Even her adrenaline-induced high couldn't last forever. She wanted to cry, she wanted to spill everything she held in out through her tears, but she couldn't. She just couldn't.

Rarity wasn't aware she had been holding her breath. She finally took the chance to breathe herself when she saw Twilight sit up, and had soon bounded over to her friend, grabbing the dazed unicorn in a crushing hug. "Oh, Twilight Sparkle! You had us so worried!"

"Rare… Rare… Rarity?" Twilight coughed as her friend, blushing released her. "Did it… did it work?"

"Did what work?" As if on cue, both their gazes fell upon Applejack at the same time. Both unicorns visibly deflated. Even the emotional high that came with the sudden revival of her friend couldn't shield Rarity from the awful, sobering truth. Applejack still lay dead before them. Nothing had changed. She hung her head, as Twilight let hers fall into her hooves.

Twilight Sparkle held her head, unwilling to look up. "I… I… I failed." She slumped down, staring at the floor, all emotion drained from her voice. "I failed. I couldn't do it."

"Might you want to tell us exactly what it was you were trying to do?" Rainbow Dash was back on her hooves, and had walked up to the two unicorns herself, her eyes a strange combination of grief and anger. "I thought you had died too! Just what in the hay was that? And what did you need me to... to… to do… that… for."

"It was… it was a spell." Twilight Sparkle hung her head again, unwilling to look Rainbow Dash in the eye. "A spell called…" She took a deep breath. "…called The Spark of Life." Twilight reached up to subconsciously touch her horn, wincing and drawing her hoof away immediately as she did so.

"Darling, are you alright?"

"I… I think so… my horn… it just… burns…"

"Wait, wait, wait." Rainbow Dash looked even more confused than ever. "What is this 'Spark of Life" spell? Does this mean Applejack will be ok?" For a short moment, a glimmer of hope shone on Rainbow Dash's downtrodden face.

"N… no. I… I don't think so. … I couldn't hold it. I couldn't hold it in me. I don't think I even finished it. It… it was supposed… supposed to draw in the natural energy of the world around us. That, and the spark of life, which has to come from a living pony, was supposed to bring Applejack back. It was supposed to work… I just… I just couldn't do it."

"That's… that's why you needed me… I… I was supposed to be that spark." Rainbow Dash blinked, staring at her lavender friend.

"I'm… I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I was just… I was just so relieved when I remembered how Celestia described the spell to me… that… that… I just thought I could do it. I thought it would be perfect. I thought it would bring her back. I just… I just wasn't strong enough. I even… I even healed all her wounds. Her body should have been able to support life… I'm just not strong enough…"

Rarity tried to give her friend a reassuring hug, but failed miserably. She just couldn't put any strength into it. She knew it now; deep down, that Applejack was gone. She knew it to be true. Her energy was drained. She could take little comfort herself anymore, let alone give comfort to a friend. She tried anyway. "Darling… that was… that was still the most impressive display of magic I've ever seen."

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It still didn't work." She buried her head into Rarity's shoulder, her white unicorn friend doing her best not to flinch away. She patted her friend on the back, unable to even think to do much else. With a deep breath, Twilight continued, her voice somewhat muffled. "I was… I was a fool to even try it. Princess Celestia even said it was too powerful for an ordinary unicorn. She told me only she has even done it before. I'm so… so stupid."

"No you're not, Twilight." The three ponies standing over Applejack's body looked up in surprise when they heard the soft voice. Before them, Fluttershy had emerged from her hiding place. She gently walked up to her friends and stopped by them, her face held bravely in a small smile that everyone could plainly see was hard for her to maintain. Only her eyes gave her inner turmoil away. "You tried your best."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Like Twilight said, it doesn't matter. Applejack's gone. Nothing matters anymore." She stalked off towards the back of the cabin. The other three stared after her for a while. She began rooting around in the closet.

Twilight Sparkle sniffed loudly. "I'm… I'm sorry, Rainbow. I… I had to try." She looked around at her friends, Rainbow Dash had her back towards her, digging through the closet for something Twilight knew not what. Rarity stood next to her, looking lost. Fluttershy seemed on the verge of tears, but was fighting bravely to keep a straight face. Pinkie was in a corner; completely unresponsive and looking strangely grey. Twilight looked back down to Applejack. "I had to try." She whispered.

"What… what are we going to do now?" Fluttershy clearly wasn't going to hold out much longer. Her face was a mask over her grief. It seemed ready to break at any moment.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do now." Everybody looked up at Rainbow Dash, who had returned to the small group, shovel in mouth. She set it down gently on the floor. "We're going to take her back to Ponyville. She deserves that, at least. We're going to let her family say goodbye to her. And then, we're going to bury her. We're going to bury her, and we're going to do it right. No magic. We're doing this right. She… she…" Rainbow Dash choked. Her hard-set gaze fell. She drew in a series of erratic, halting breaths, trying and failing to calm her nerves. She struggled to finish. "She… she deserves that much."

The others nodded in agreement. She picked up the shovel she had found and was about to make for the door when she was stopped in her tracks.

Shock, as an early stage of natural reaction to loss, lasts for a little while, before giving away to pure grief. It had taken time, but the assembled ponies were slowly realizing that their friend was truly gone. Rainbow Dash, having fought to keep a brave face, was close to losing the battle. The others were no better off. Only Pinkie seemed so blindsided that she remained out of it. The others were slowly catching up to the idea that they would never see their friend alive again. They would never go on another adventure with her. They would never laugh at another joke with her. They would never be able to drop in at Sweet Apple Acres and share a refreshing drink with her by their side again. They would never again hear her charming drawl of an accent.

It is this realization that marks the swing from shock and disbelief to acceptance and grief. It is however, the onset of such grief that comes with its own peculiarities. In a last ditch effort to prevent emotional damage, the mind will often try everything it can to convince itself that what has occurred has not actually occurred at all. It will try to trick itself, particularly in the case of a lost loved one. This mental trickery, as part of the first stage of the onset of grief, can have surprising consequences. The host can experience hallucination, in which any one of their senses may deceive them into believing that their fallen loved one is indeed still alive.

This is why the noise startled the four ponies so. At first, they didn't know what to think of it. It was a very real possibility that their ears may be deceiving them, but even so, they all stopped in their places, listening intently. In the room, silence reigned.

The second time, their ears perked even further. The deathly silence was punctuated by a distinct clatter as Rainbow Dash dropped her shovel, her mouth having fallen open in surprise. They each remained absolutely still. They each remained perfectly quiet. The third time they heard it, it was unmistakable.

It was a cough.

Rainbow Dash whipped around, spinning a full 180 degrees. It seemed too good to be true. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible. Applejack's body remained still. Rainbow Dash watched intently. She heard another succession of quick coughs. The orange pony's chest jerked upward each time.

Time stood still. Rainbow Dash tried to tell herself that it was impossible; that Applejack was gone. But it had to be possible. Somehow, she knew this was no illusion. She just knew. "A… A… A-Applej-jack?"

As if in slow motion, the earth pony's head rolled to the side, facing Rainbow Dash. It felt like a dream to her. She watched, mouth agape, as Applejack's eyes flickered open weakly. Rainbow Dash was stunned motionless. Her entire world dissolved around her. To Rainbow Dash, there was only herself and her Applejack. She blinked. She could scarcely believe it. She had thought she would never see them again, but Applejack's brilliant green eyes flickered up at her, shimmering and dancing in the light of the sun outside and a few scattered candles. Applejack's lip quivered. She was trying to speak. "… you…. Ah… Ah love you… Dash."

"Applejack!" Rainbow Dash bounded over to her marefriend, skidding to a halt before leaping onto her at the last moment, fearful of hurting her. She reached out a hoof, tentatively grasping Applejack's in her own. "How… how are you feeling?"

"Ah… Ah don't hurt anymore. Ah don't hurt anymore, Dash. R… Rainbow? Am… am Ah… dead?"

"No… no. Not anymore. Not anymore, Applejack."

Applejack looked confused. "Wha… what?"

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash threw her hooves around the orange pony. "Oh, Applejack." She kissed her. Applejack was taken aback for just a moment before she kissed back, pressing just as hard as her life-force steadily grew. Rainbow Dash relished the deep kiss. She rejoiced, feeling around every inch of her lover's mouth. There was warmth there. There was breath there. There was life there.

For the first time, Rainbow Dash allowed herself to cry.

===================================================================================

It took a while to get everything explained. Applejack couldn't believe it. The others could barely believe it either. Rainbow Dash whiled away the time cradling Applejack's head in her hooves, glad of nothing more than to have her back. She was perfectly content to remain there forever, silently stroking her love. Rainbow Dash leaned down and kissed Applejack's forehead. Applejack sighed. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash grew concerned. "What's wrong, AJ?"

"Ah… Ah'm so sorry. Ah never should've left. Ah… Ah just… Ah wanted to believe he had changed."

Rainbow Dash leaned down and rubbed her cheek comfortingly against Applejack's. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

"Ah still feel terrible." Applejack let her head fall back further into Rainbow Dash's lap. She stared up at the ceiling. "Ah hate this place."

Rainbow Dash looked up, nodding in agreement. "We should get out of here. Can you stand up?"

"Ah… Ah think so. Let me try." Slowly, Applejack, with help from her marefriend, managed to stand up. She wobbled slightly on her hooves, but soon steadied herself, looking up to receive another kiss for her efforts. "Let's go."

Rainbow Dash led her to the doorway, where they were promptly joined by Twilight Sparkle. Rarity led Fluttershy, who still looked all the worse for wear, up as well, and the five friends stood together. They were just about to go outside when Rainbow Dash noticed something. "Hey, where's Pinkie?" Quickly, she ducked her head back inside. Pinkie Pie was curled up in a dark corner. She didn't seem to have changed. "Pinkie? Are you okay? AJ's back. She's fine, Pinkie. We can go." Rainbow Dash smiled for her friend. Pinkie Pie's bottom lip quivered. "No, don't cry, Pinkie, everything's fine."

The pink mare's quivering grew more intense. Rainbow Dash braced herself for the coming flood. Suddenly, rapturous laughter erupted, filling the entire cabin. Rainbow Dash looked up in surprise. Miraculously, Pinkie's deflated mane and tail had sprung back into their poofy state. Her vibrant colors were back and seemed brighter than ever. Rainbow Dash just stared, dumbfounded, as her cackling friend made her way outside. The laughter faded into the distance.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I swear I will never understand her." Sighing, she rejoined Applejack in the doorway. Their friends were already making their way back up the winding path to the top of the hill.

Applejack looked up at her in confusion. "What was that about."

"I have no clue." Rainbow Dash smiled at her marefriend, still ecstatic just to see her standing tall and strong once again. She kissed her cheek. Applejack frowned. "What's the matter?"

"Just gimme a second. Ah fergot somethin'." Before Rainbow Dash could protest, Applejack had darted inside. From the threshold, Rainbow could hear a loud crash, followed by the distinct sound of shattering glass. She grew worried for just a mere second, but Applejack soon popped her head back out through the door again, looking, if anything, happier than before. "Ok, let's go."

Shrugging, Rainbow Dash followed the orange earth pony up the hill.

Behind her, the cabin stood quiet for a long moment. Inside, the large table lay, smashed, on the floor. One of its once-sturdy legs, that had served to hold it up for ages, lay against the wall across the room. It had come to rest there only after flying through the air, propelled by the significant force of a set of hind legs well-toned to bucking after many years. The table's remaining three legs had not served to keep it upright, and its contents had spilled onto the floor.

Shards of glass rested on the wooden surface, surrounding a large puddle. The bottle of alcohol had been smashed there, its contents left to pool, seeping across the floor at a snail's pace. It was not long before the expanding puddle of alcohol reached the candle. It had been knocked onto its side, its wick left burning, as if waiting for something. The tiny flame burned bright, flickering gently in the still air of the shack. The fumes from the expanding puddle of alcohol ignited instantly.

The burning conflagration spread across the entire puddle, quickly engulfing a sizable portion of the floor. The fumes, rising off the spilled liquid, burned quickly but with intense heat. Soon, the alcohol had been burned away, but the flames caught on the wood flooring beneath. The flames spread slower, chewing up the floor board by board, marching outward from their epicenter at a steady, unstoppable pace. They engulfed the broken table within seconds. They reached the walls soon after. It took longer, but the wood paneling of the walls finally caught. As the flames grew steadily upward, spurred to new heights by their increasing intensity and growing fuel supply, they began lapping at the bottom of the window.

It was the loud, unexpected sound of shattering glass, followed closely by an incredible roar, which caught everypony's attention. Now at the top of the hill, all six turned around and stopped, watching in a mix of fascination and horror, just in time to witness the flames burst forth through the opening left by the broken window, soaring even higher thanks to the sudden influx of oxygen. Rainbow Dash sat down in the grass, scarcely able to process what she saw. She felt somepony sit down next to her, and turned to see Applejack staring at the growing inferno. The orange glow grew, casting a strange shadow of the two ponies behind them. Applejack's face was soon bathed in the light given off by the product of her work. "Ah hate this place."

For Fluttershy, everything became too much. The last few hours had already been taxing on the poor pegasus, and faced with this final shock, her willpower gave way. She collapsed onto the ground and wept silently, burying her face in her hooves as the tears began flowing. She couldn't take it. She shook her head as she held it, whispering even as tears streamed down her face. "I… I… I wanna go… home." Rarity sat down next to her, draping a comforting arm around her best friend's shoulders even as she stared forward, mesmerized by some primeval force held within the enchanting flames. She held her best friend as she cried.

Pinkie Pie collapsed onto her back, laughing hysterically. Twilight Sparkle looked over her, concerned for a moment, before shrugging and returning her gaze to the growing inferno a well. The flickering orange danced off of her face, just as it did on Rainbow Dash and Applejack's.

Rainbow Dash was silent for a while. For a long time, she was just content to watch the terrible shack burn. In truth, it made her even happier to see such an awful place go up in smoke and towering flame. The sooty, black column rose high into the sky, dissipating only slightly as it reached towards the clouds. The sun was already going down, and the thick smoke obscured it even more. The land remained lit by the incredible glow. Rainbow Das looked back to Applejack. The flickering orange glow highlighted her feature, playing off her face even more intensely in the fading light. Her green eyes sparkled with the reflection. "Applejack… Applejack, Why? Why?"

The wind blew, fanning the flames. They had reached the roof at this point. Applejack looked over at her marefriend. She took a deep breath. The breeze blew even more, stirring the grass around them and fluttering a few strands of hair in Applejack's mane. It carried an almost musical quality on its wafting current. Applejack looked back out over the destruction she had wrought.

So I'm gonna take this place, and burn it down. I'm gonna put it six feet underground.

She looked back towards Rainbow Dash, letting the breeze play with her hair even more.

I'm gonna take this place and watch it fall, stand here beside you baby, watch those crumblin' walls.

The crashing sound of a wall giving way was carried over the prairie, forcing their attention back to the destruction at hand.

I'm gonna take this place and start a fire, stand here until I fill all your heart's desires.

With a roar, the flames burst out through the new opening, building the orange glow that played across the six friends.

I'm gonna take this place and see it go, stand here beside me baby, watch that orange glow.

Applejack turned to scan the faces of her friends. Rarity and Twilight could only look on in disbelief. Fluttershy wept softly into the grass. Pinkie rolled around on her back, laughing riotously. She turned back to Rainbow Dash.

Some will laugh, and some just sit and cry. But you just sit down there, and you wonder why.

With a tremendous rush, the fire finally burnt through the last remaining supports. No longer to support the weight, the remaining weakened walls all gave out at once, bringing the foor crashing into the foundation with a shower of sparks and a towering burst of energy.

Because I'm gonna take this place and see it burn, and do back the things I did to you in return.

"Ah had to." Applejack said simply, and then fell silent. For a long while, she and Rainbow Dash just stared at each other. The orange light played off the sides of their faces, casting them into shadow. The flames were reflected on the outside edges of green eyes, as they were on magenta ones.

"I love you, AJ."

"Ah love you too, Dash."

The sun was all but hidden from view. The scene was dark save for the powerful light of the towering fire. It served as a backdrop, glowing a spectacular orange as two silhouetted ponies leaned forward to share a kiss in the firelight. They broke it after a long while, and smiled at each other.

"I'm so glad to have you back."

Epilogue

The journey home was long, and due to Applejack's condition following her ordeal, took three days to complete. Despite having been magically healed by her unicorn friend, and regardless of her dogged determination to not hold the group up, Applejack found that she could not walk very long before her aching body succumbed to the demands of exhaustion. For three nights, the tired, yet elated, group slept under the stars. Each night, Rainbow Dash made sure her marefriend's head rested comfortably on her own chest when Applejack drifted off into sleep.

There was no fanfare when they arrived home. Close friends, who had noticed their absence, waved when the saw them entering town again. Others, who hadn't seen the six friends for a while, greeted them as they saw them, but for the most part, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were able to rejoin their neighbors without many questions about their whereabouts. The majority of the townsfolk were fully aware of the friends' frequent adventures, and few bothered to pry. The six friends each breathed a sigh of relief for this, as they had decided between them that nopony else needed to know of what had happened.

Night had already fallen by the time the group made it back to the town center. They gazed with renewed appreciation upon the brightly-lit, colorful, friendly-looking buildings in town, the dreary scenery of Manesville and the forlorn little cabin having left an unwanted, yet indelible, impression upon them. At the town center, the group bid each other farewell and set off their separate ways. Twilight Sparkle cringed as she returned to her tree-library. She knew Spike would probably demand a full explanation of her absence, and she was sure she wouldn't be able to lie to him. Rarity, exhausted and, according to her, looking worse than she ever had before, retreated first to the spa for a lengthy rejuvenation session. In the back of her mind, however, she hoped even more the soothing steam would relieve her of the terrible memories of her ordeal.

Pinkie Pie, looking drained yet undoubtedly happy, set off for Sugarcube Corner at once. Fluttershy, after giving Applejack a tight hug, as if she could still hardly believe her friend was really alive, quietly retreated to her cottage. She left only Rainbow Dash and Applejack, standing alone in the star-lit night by the bridge that would lead them over the river towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Rainbow Dash happily trotted forward, excited to be finally coming home after so long. She was almost halfway across the bridge when she noticed the lack of a presence at her side. Turning, she quickly glanced behind her to see Applejack, still standing at the foot of the bridge with her head hung low and her eyes closed. Almost instantly, Rainbow Dash was back at her side.

"AJ? Are you ok? Is something wrong?"

Applejack looked up, opening her eyes and closing them again several times wearily. "Ah just… Ah don't know, Dash. Ah'm just tired, Ah guess." She yawned.

Rainbow Dash rested her forehead against her marefriend's, letting their forelocks mingle together in a tangled wave of rainbow and gold. Their noses touched, and they both closed their eyes, breathing in each other's scents in the quiet night. Rainbow Dash brushed a light kiss on her lover's cheek. "I'll carry you."

Before Applejack could protest, she found Rainbow Dash twisting and squirming her way underneath her. Gently, the pegasus lifted herself up so Applejack rested on her back, sinking into her cyan fur. Applejack shifted herself just a bit and laid her head against the back of her mare's neck, letting the multicolored fine wisps of her mane brush across her face. Rainbow Dash started trotting, gently, so she wouldn't make the ride bumpy and uncomfortable for her love. Every now and again, she would glance back, reveling in the sight of the mare she loved resting against her, nuzzling into her neck.

A light breeze washed over the pair as they began strolling through the orchards. The road was winding, but they both knew very well that it would surely lead them home. Applejack smiled as she rested, allowing the soothing rhythmic motion of Rainbow Dash's trotting beneath her to calm her. "Ya don't… ya don't hafta do this fer me, Dash…" she stifled another yawn, trying not to seem as tired as she really was, "Ah… Ah can walk."

Rainbow Dash just kept walking. "I want to, AJ. I want to carry you because you carried me."

Applejack was silent for a long while. She remembered all too clearly the day her marefriend referred to. She would never forget that day. "It... it was nothing Dash."

"It wasn't nothing to me, AJ. It was much more than nothing." Their path wound through the orchard, bringing them past row upon row and grove upon grove of tall, fruit-bearing trees. Then, as they rounded a bend, like a great ship looming over a distant ocean horizon, the quiet farmhouse, tucked away in a clearing surrounded by trees and fields, rose before them.

The windows were dark, save for a single light shining from the living room. They both stopped, standing on the path in the pleasant chill of late evening, and stared. At that moment, to the two tired, hard-pressed lovers, their cozy abode had never looked so appealing, so inviting, or so beautiful. "Ah… Ah can't believe how much Ah've missed this place." Applejack's brilliant green eyes seemed to sparkle in the wavering light.

"I know… me too." Rainbow Dash trotted forward, bringing the two of them to the front door in no time. As quietly as possible, she hoofed the latch, letting the door gently swing inward with as little noise as possible. Gingerly, she stepped over the threshold, allowing her eyes to sweep the dark foyer as she brought her marefriend home. She strode into the living room, looking to see why the lights remained on so late, only to see Big Macintosh, lying belly-up on the couch and snoring deeply, having succumbed to his exhaustion. "Do you… do you think he was waiting for us?"

"Ah… Ah don't know. Poor big brother, he must'a been worried 'bout us; had to take care of AB this whole time. Rarity probably dumped Sweetie Belle here when she left, too." Gently, Applejack clambered down off of her lover, setting her hooves upon the floor. She crept over to her older brother, whose head lay lopsided against the arm of the couch. His big chest rose and fell with each rattling breath he took. She smiled at him in a way only a sister could. Tenderly, she leaned forward, lightly kissing him just above his ear. "Ah love ya, big bro. See ya in the mornin'." He only snored in response.

Applejack walked to the foot of the stairs, where she was soon joined by Rainbow Dash. They nuzzled cheeks and began the ascent, their tails swishing together as they climbed.

Applejack's room still looked as pristine as she had left it. There was no mess, no broken bottles, nothing to remind her of the one place she wished to forget most. She smiled. It was perfect. They looked about the room. Applejack had to suppress a chuckle when she saw the state of Rainbow Dash's cloud. In the many days without care or fluffing, the material had grown this and wispy, pulling apart over time. They both looked at each other.

"Don't worry, Sugarcube. Ya can sleep with me tonight." Applejack grinned, brushing her tail lightly across Rainbow Dash's cheek as she walked past.

Rainbow Dash grinned. "I was already planning to."

Applejack nestled herself into her blankets, snuggling into the softness of her long-missed bed. Rainbow Dash was not far behind her, landing on the bed next to her and immediately tucking herself in next to her marefriend. She reached out and wrapped a hoof over Applejack's shoulder, flipping the orange pony onto her back. Applejack giggled, but was cut off abruptly by Rainbow Dash's lips. She eagerly returned the gesture, pressing her mouth against her lover's.

After a long while, the two pulled apart. Rainbow Dash gazed happily into her lover's shimmering eyes. She reached forward to plant a kiss on her forehead; letting loose strands of Applejack's golden mane caress her nose as she went. She pulled back, smiling, and expecting to see Applejack doing the same. She was surprised, however, to see a frown flit across her marefriend's face. "Applejack?" She paused for a moment in confusion, "Are you ok?"

Applejack looked down, almost as if she were trying to avoid Rainbow Dash's gaze. Rainbow Dash reached a hoof down to Applejack's chin, pushing her head back up so she could look into her eyes. Tears welled up underneath Applejack's green orbs, slipping down her cheeks uncontrollably, even as she fought to keep a straight face in front of Rainbow Dash.

"What's wrong?"

"Ah'm… Ah'm sorry, Dash. Ah just… Ah just." Applejack rubbed at her eyes with a hoof, failing to really stem the flow. "What if… what if Ah didn't make it? What if Ah wasn't here right now?"

Rainbow Dash hugged her tightly, letting Applejack's head slip into the crook of her shoulder. There, Applejack wept, Rainbow Dash trying her hardest to soothe her. "It's ok. You're fine now. You're here, and there's nothing that can change that."

"Ah know, Dash… but… but what if Ah wasn't?" Applejack pulled back to get a good look at her lover. Rainbow Dash tried to smile for her. "There's nowhere Ah'd rather be than right here, with you, right now, but Ah almost didn't make it. Ah… Ah can't… Ah can't stand it."

Rainbow Dash lay down, still holding Applejack around the neck, and let her snuggle in next to her. "Applejack… I won't lie to you. I… I thought you were dead. In fact, I'm pretty sure you were for a while, and I was terrified. I'm never going to forget seeing you there, lying still like that. I thought I lost you. I thought you were gone." This didn't seem to help; Applejack's tears only ran thicker. Rainbow Dash frowned, reaching out to kiss her on the forehead again. "But that doesn't matter now. You're alive, you're fine, and you're with me. We're together, and together, we're unstoppable. That's all that matters."

They night grew even longer as they lay, wrapped in each other's embrace. Applejack kept sniffing, kept trying to keep her tears in. She didn't want Rainbow Dash to see her like this. She felt so weak. She hated it. Rainbow Dash touched a hoof to her cheek. Applejack gazed up at her, her eyes wide. Rainbow Dash smiled wanly. "It's ok." She soothed, rubbing Applejack's cheek tenderly, "It's ok… it's ok to cry."

And so they did. And as the minutes passed, it felt good. Alone, in the quiet night, they held each other, spilling tears for all they had ever endured together, and they never let go. Applejack, her exhaustion finally getting the best of her, finally drifted into a peaceful sleep an hour or so later. Rainbow Dash felt her own eyelids drooping as she gazed at her sleeping lover. She leaned forward to kiss her still form. "Good night, beautiful." It was not long before the beckoning grasp of slumber claimed her as well.

===================================================================================

Despite the happy occasion, or more likely, because of it, Rarity was in a particularly bad mood. In truth, she had been for weeks, much to the chagrin of her friends. As the date of the event grew closer, they resorted to not mentioning it around her, but this grew difficult, especially when they were out in public, as the upcoming event had become the talk of the town early and had retained that position right up until the looming date arrived.

It was past midday, and the festivities were scheduled to begin in the afternoon. As could have been expected, the townsponies were nearly beside themselves with anticipation. Rarity, despite her dourness, couldn't help but get caught up in the joy of the festivities. Her business, with such an influx of orders for formal wear, was doing quite well because of the event, and she could hardly feign that her hurt pride at all lessened her enthusiasm; she was a bridesmaid, after all.

Well, one of five, at least, but that was still good in her opinion. She had at least had the opportunity to make numerous gowns for the wedding attendees, as well as Twilight Sparkle's, Fluttershy's, Pinkie Pie's, and Applebloom's bridesmaid dresses, not to mention her own. Despite this, she still felt like she had missed out, an opinion she seemingly couldn't help but express as the crucial hour neared.

"It's just not fair." Rarity turned her snout upward in indignation.

"Oh, Rarity, are you still going on about that? You silly." Pinkie Pie had never looked more excited. It was seemingly all she could do to keep from bouncing in place on the raised platform she and the others occupied. Before them, it seemed everyone in Ponyville had turned out for the event. The town square hadn't been so packed in anypony's memory, especially given the fact that a sizable chunk of the even more sizable Apple Family had also turned out for the most anticipated, and most controversial, wedding since the marriage of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.

"Well, I guess I'm just upset to have my skills so utterly turned down."

Twilight Sparkle, standing beside her fellow unicorn, rolled her eyes. "Come on, Rarity, aren't you happy for them?"

"Well of course I'm happy for them, Twilight Sparkle, indescribably so. However, I must say I'm more than a little off-put by their decision."

"Why, it's their wedding, they get to do what they want."

"Well, yes, I know… but… tuxedos? Really?"

Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie giggled at their friend. Fluttershy smiled as well. "I thought it was a cute idea." She chimed, smiling brightly in her excitement.

"Well, I don't know about that. I suppose it might make sense for one of them to wear a tuxedo when they get married, but both of them? They're being ridiculous. Besides, I had such nice dresses planned for them, too." Rarity consigned herself to feigning pouting again.

"Oh, Rarity." Fluttershy's eyes shone as she spoke, "I'll wear whatever wedding dress you want to make for me. I promise."

"Thank you dear."

"Ooh! Look y'all, here they come!" Applebloom was finding it hard to control her excitement. Everypony's head turned. Some had to squint to see, but, in the distance, two moving figures could plainly be seen. As they approached the pony-lined aisle, Rainbow Dash and Applejack could be seen even clearer. They walked slowly, side-by-side, as they marched towards the raised platform of Town Hall. They wore matching fancy tuxedos, both with coat-tails flowing out behind them, the tips of which just dragged along the ground. They kept glancing at each other, attempting not to snicker at how ridiculous they both looked, and tried to maintain a refined, formal appearance.

They failed miserably. They made it about halfway down the aisle before it happened. Rainbow Dash accidently stepped on a coat-tail of her tuxedo with a back hoof. Her hoof slipped on the slick material, and she lost balance, crashing to the ground with a thud. Applejack, initially concerned, turned to see her bride-to-be, only to find her sitting dazed and confused but none the worse for wear. It was then that she started chuckling, an action that soon escalated to a laugh. She clutched her side and had to close her eyes in an attempt to stop her nearly incessant giggling fit.

She didn't even stop when Rainbow Dash tackled her. For several moments, the wedding attendees watched with a strange mixture of horror and amusement as the two brides rolled around in the dirt of the aisle, laughing and shouting in merriment as they engaged in a strange sort of friendly, loving, wrestling match.

Rarity groaned and tried to hide her face behind a hoof. "Ugghh… Don't they know anything about proper etiquette?"

Pinkie Pie took a break from laughing hysterically at the display to wipe her eyes. "Oh, Rarity, it's Rainbow Dash and Applejack! What did you expect?"

It was at this moment that Applejack, having wound up on top of the upside-down Rainbow Dash, looked up to the platform to see her friends waiting for them. "Oops… Come on, Dash! Let's go!" She immediately hopped off of her wife-to-be and trotting towards the stage. Rainbow Dash was quick to join her.

They stopped at the head of the stairs, smiling hugely. Their suits, so pristine only moments before, were covered in dust and had tears in several places. Rainbow Dash was missing a piece of her coat-tail, and both of them had lost their corsages. Still, they beamed with the unabashed enthusiasm of two lovers ready to commit themselves fully to each other. Neither cared about their appearance.

Rarity, however, did. "Oh, honestly, you two. You're making a mess of your own wedding!" Rarity lectured as she set about using her magic to clean up their suits and faces, fix the rips and tears in the black fabric, and replace the lost flowers. "These were rentals, you know."

Rainbow Dash laughed as a bit of magic scrubbed off a patch of dirt from her cheek, tickling her in the process. "Come on, Rarity, lighten up! We were just having a bit of fun!"

Rarity rolled her eyes theatrically as she finished cleaning the two of them up. "I would have thought if you two ever decided to take fashion seriously, it would be on your wedding day." Rainbow Dash and Applejack both grinned at her.

The ceremonies, after the unplanned delay, were just about ready to get underway when everypony was distracted by a noise coming out of the sky. As they watched, a gleaming golden chariot, let by a team of well-groomed white pegasi, descended from above, coming to a gentle rest not far from the Town Hall. Twilight Sparkles eyes lit up immediately in feign surprise. "Princess Celestia!"

Twilight beamed, just managing to maintain enough composure to stay in one place while the pure white princess with a shimmering mane of many colors made her own way over to the stage. Guests and Brides alike bowed their heads in respect; while Twilight leaned up to share a welcoming nuzzle with her old mentor. "Twilight Sparkle. It has truly been too long. I trust that I am not late, yes?"

"We were just about to get started, Princess. You're right on time! I'm so glad you decided to come!"

"Oh, don't be silly, Twilight, two of the Elements of Harmony getting married? I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Behind her, Princess Luna approached, saying nothing, but waving at the assembled friends. "Well, shall we get started?"

In due course, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack has assembled themselves at the altar. Applebloom, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all stood behind them and to the side, while Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took up a position behind them even further. Twilight Sparkle stepped up to the podium, looking as if she was about to start a speech, and hesitated. She turned around, facing her mentor. "Princess, would you like to do the honors?"

"Oh, I don't know, Twilight. Shouldn't that be Applejack and Rainbow Dash's decision?"

Applejack turned and smiled. "Princess, it would be an honor."

Twilight Sparkle vacated the podium, allowing Princess Celestia to take her place. Celestia beamed at her student before turning to face the hushed crowd. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, my loyal subjects, today we are gathered here to witness the wedding of two of our most beloved friends, two heroines of Equestria, Rainbow Dash and Applejack!"

Rarity leaned over to whisper in Twilight's ear. "You planned this. Didn't you?"

"…Maybe…"

Celestia, not indicating that she heard their exchange beyond giving a slight smile, continued with her speech. "As I'm sure most of you are aware, this afternoon's ceremony shall be rather… unconventional… in nature. To begin, both brides have prepared speeches to be given before their vows are made. So, without further ado, Rainbow Dash!"

Princess Celestia stepped back to allow Rainbow Dash and Applejack to step up to the podium. They stopped so that they faced each other, both with their sides to the assembled audience. Rainbow Dash blushed slightly as she looked out over the crowd of her friends and neighbors. There was a piece of parchment laid out across the podium with her speech on it, but she neglected it. She already knew everything by heart. She took a deep breath, and began.

"Applejack,…" Rainbow paused, stopping for a mere moment to stare into her lover's eyes. Her cavalier attitude was gone. "Ever since we first met, I knew I had found a friend. Over the years, we've had our fair share of competitions and our fair share of fights, but in the end, it always made us closer. We came out stronger after every trial we've faced together. I realized a long time ago that I might love you. I had always admired your bravery, your strength, your friendliness, and of course, your honesty. I always considered you one of my best friends, and I knew I wanted us to be more, but I always held back.

"I had to come to terms with the way I am at an early age. I'd known the way I felt about other mares for years, but I never met another mare quite like you. I never found another mare who I wanted to spend every possible moment with before I met you. But still, I held back. I never told you about my feelings because I could never know if you would share them. So I distracted myself by trying to become a Wonderbolt. It was all I could focus on. Then, when that dream was destroyed, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to turn. That was the day I thought everything was over for me, and that was the day you saved me.

"You saved me. You carried me to the hospital. You stayed there until I woke up, and then you stayed by my side that night and every night after that. That was when I decided I couldn't live without telling you how I felt, but I had never imagined you felt the same way." Rainbow Dash stopped to wipe a tear from her eye, only to stop when she saw droplets running down Applejack's cheeks. She gave a small smile, let her own mirthful tears fall, and continued. "When I didn't know what was happening with my life, you gave me yours. You let me into your home and you gave me a reason to wake up every morning.

"You've been my life ever since. And now… now I know… I know that there's nothing I want more – nothing I've ever wanted more – than to spend the rest of my life by your side. You're my life, Applejack, and you're the one I love."

Save for the occasional muffled sob or sniff, there was no noise. The assembled guests all sat in perfect silence, allowing Rainbow Dash's words to sink over the crowd and permeate the very air. Everyone's eyes were on the cyan pegasus, but her magenta orbs remained fixed on her partner. Applejack and Rainbow Dash held each other's' gaze for an untold length of time before Applejack began her own piece.

"Rainbow, Ah've never met another pony like you. No matter how aggravatin' ya ever got, and no matter how many times we tussled, ah've always considered you to be the best friend Ah've ever known, and more. Growin' up on the farm, ah never knew very much about love. Ah always just assumed Ah would wind up settlin' down with some stallion someday just like Ma and Granny Smith. Ah never thought… Ah never thought Ah'd fall fer another mare.

"Ah never thought that until the day Ah found you… the day I brought you to the hospital. When Ah saw you, lyin' on the ground like that, not movin' or anything, Ah couldn't bear to think about what might happen. Ah couldn't bear to think Ah might lose you. That was when… that was when Ah realized that Ah couldn't live without you. Ah was so worried, waiting for you to wake up at the hospital. In the back of mah mind, Ah kept thinkin' it would never happen.

"When Nurse Redheart said you were awake, Ah was relieved. Ah knew, then and there, that Ah never wanted to be away from ya again. Ah knew that Ah loved ya. When ya told me the same, Ah knew it was everything Ah ever wanted. Ah wanted to stay with you, to keep watch over ya, to spend every day and every night with ya, because you meant everything ta me and Ah never wanted ta see you hurt again.

"Ah know that Ah want to spend mah life with ya. Ah love seein' yer face when Ah wake up every mornin'. Ah love makin' ya smile and makin' ya laugh. You know Ah'd do anyhtin' for you, and now… now… now I know you'd do anythin' for me. You've given me everything, and Ah only hope Ah can pay you back. Rainbow Dash, you're the one Ah love."

A hushed silence remained in place over the crowd. The assembled bowed their heads out of a mixture of respect and shock. Rainbow Dash's tragic story was known to many of them, and for those who were unaware, the pure, raw emotion in the brides' words was enough to quiet them. Overhead, several birds, unaware of the serenity of the event unfolding below them, chirped loudly as they flew past. The sky was a pure, cool blue, specially cleared for the occasion. The sun had risen high into the sky, yet it was not warm. The days were growing colder. Autumn was coming, and everypony knew it. The wind, a subtle reminder of the changing season, blew through the quiet town. The light breeze washed over the ponies assembled in the town square. A few shivered, Big Macintosh included.

Normally, the cold did not get to the large stallion very easily. A lifetime of work and his heavyset frame had granted him a special tolerance for temperature extremes. As he stood, however, at the front of the crowd, dressed up in his best suit and watching his sister, braced against the wind, he couldn't help but tremble. Of the many ponies assembled, he was one of the few who knew about Applejack's disastrous trip. She had told him everything the morning after she returned. His joy at seeing her once again was quelled as detail after sordid detail of the journey was revealed to him. He knew he shouldn't have let her go – he hadn't trusted Cider from the beginning – but no matter how much she tried to assure him otherwise, he couldn't shake the overbearing feeling that everything that had happened was somehow his fault. With time, he had been able to let go of much of his guilt. Yet, he still felt bound and determined to watch over her, and so he shivered in the wind as he took in her words.

It seemed like a lifetime had passed before Princess Celestia stepped back up to the podium, standing between both Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The silence that reigned after their speeches had seemed, if possible, almost as deeply resonating within the hearts of those gathered than their words had been. Celestia took a few moments to gaze out over the crowd – her subjects – before she continued the ceremony. "I believe I speak for everypony here when I say how deeply moving those words were." Celestia tilted her head first to Rainbow Dash, and then Applejack. "I believe, now, that it is quite time for each bride to say their vows."

Rainbow Dash nodded, and began. "I, Rainbow Dash, take you, Applejack, to be my life-long partner, my wife."

"And I, Applejack, take you, Rainbow Dash, to be mah life-long partner and mah wife."

"No matter where this journey takes us," Rainbow Dash continued.

"No matter what we do with our lives," Applejack added, nodding her head.

"No matter how long the road is,"

"No matter what direction we take,"

"No matter how far we are separated by day,"

"No matter how close we hold each other at night,"

"No matter what happens,"

"I will always love you."

"And Ah will always love you."

"And I will always be yours."

"And Ah yours."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both bowed their heads mere inches from one another. Their forelocks hung loosely in front of their faces, almost touching. Princess Celestia stepped back to allow them space. Another light breeze played itself over the crowd. Near the front, a mint-green unicorn mare leaned happily against a cream-coated earth pony. Both of them sighed in fond memory as the wind fluttered their manes together. Big Macintosh stared at his sister, watching over her, as he had for many years and would for many to come. Rarity watched intently, the hopeless romantic in her bursting with the desire to see love come to fruition. Fluttershy, unable to control her joy, was close to tears. Pinkie Pie rocked back and forth on her hooves, looking fit to burst from excitement. Twilight Sparkle smiled inwardly, knowing that somehow, none of this would be possible were it not for her. Celestia opened her eyes. She spoke. "Then by the power vested in me, I hereby declare you mare and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Perhaps it was because this was the moment they had anticipated for months. Perhaps it was because they found themselves surrounded by friends, family, and neighbors, feeling the eyes of everyone they cared most about resting on them. Perhaps it was because of the hardships they had endured together, and the strength they had gained together. No matter the reason, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had never shared a more perfect kiss, or a more perfect moment.