“No.”
“But Rainbow-”
“I said no didn’t I? Please… Applejack… just drop it. I’m not going to change my mind.”
“Rainbow, please, just let me speak sugarcube.”
“You’ve been doing so for the past hour, doesn’t that maybe tell you something?”
“Just let me speak.”
“I know you’ve always had your eyes on the Wonderbolts an’ all that, but what happened to all those friends that you’re going to leave behind? What about us?”
“Geez, you’re making it sound like we’ll never see each other again. I’ll still be around when I can be and when I’m on leave.”
“Which is going to be what? Every other weekend? A day every month?”
“Whenever I’m on leave.”
“Well pardon me for being blunt, but that’s not really saying much at all.”
“It says enough. For pity’s sake AJ, it’s not like I’ve ever hidden my desire to join the Wonderbolts, you’ve known about it since you and I first met.”
“Well yes, but ah never thought you’d actually-”
“Never thought that I’d actually what? Get into the Wonderbolts? You’re not exactly selling yourself here ya’ know.”
“I just never thought you’d move away from us…”
“And as I said, I’m not just dumping you; I’ll still be around every now and again.”
“And us? What about your friends?”
“Well duh, I’ll still have Twilight to talk to at the shows.”
“And what about Rarity? Pinkie? Fluttershy? Me?”
“AJ…”
“It’s no use growling at me, I want to hear it from you. What’s your answer?”
“Well excuse me for putting my life’s dream above that of my friends needs for me to be around.”
“I’m still waiting for an answer.”
“No. You know what? Screw you, if you don’t want me to follow my dreams and to just stay here, then screw you.”
A pause.
“So much for the element of loyalty.”
“Alright, that’s it. If you think I’m going to stick to you like apples to your damn trees then think again. No-one ever said that this loyalty gig was going to be a lifelong job. Just remember this AJ, the apples always fall from the tree.”
“Rainbow, I-”
“No, you’ve had your chance, you’ve had plenty of chances and you still haven’t managed it. I’m not, I repeat, not, changing my mind about this. And AJ, you haven’t exactly managed to change my mind as much as give me reasons not to stay.”
“Would ya just let me-”
“Finish? No. You’ll just try to persuade me again and I’ll just say no again. For the last time… I. Am. Not. Changing. My. Mind. You keep forgetting that my life is still mine to live, elements of harmony be damned. And speaking of those damn elements, you didn’t ever put up as much fuss when Twilight went away did you?”
“But-”
“But what? Twilight had to leave to fulfil her destiny? Seems pretty similar to this wouldn’t you say?”
“She wasn’t the element of loyalty.”
“Loyalty? Is that what this is about? You want me to give up on my hopes and dreams because of some stupid rock and a title? Tell me Applejack, what about staying loyal to yourself, ey? What happened to always staying true to my dreams?”
“And what about staying loyal to your friends? Staying true to us?”
“Hmm, let me think… Oh I know, how about Nightmare Moon?”
“That was-”
“Or, I know, the cherry orchard?
“Yes, but-”
“And the dragon migration?”
“Ah know, but-”
“And don’t get me started on the-”
“Alright sugarcube! Ah get the damn picture, but those are all in the past, what about now?”
“Gah. Have you been listening to me at all Applejack? This is my choice, my life’s dream, if you’re not happy with my dreams, then buck you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still have to talk to Rarity. Sheesh, even Pinkie didn’t make this much of a fuss.”
“Well I’m not Pinkie.”
“Really? I never would have guessed. Unless the next words out of your mouth are going to be ‘good luck in the Wonderbolts Rainbow,’ I’m out of here.”
“But why sugar-”
“You want to know why? Why I want to follow my life’s dream? Why I don’t think that my life should be laid out before me by a shiny stone? Why I want to choose my own destiny? Which, take your pick, it’s obvious that you’re never going to stop trying to persuade me anyway.”
“Sugarcu-”
“Can’t decide? Let me make this clear then. One, because this is a once in a lifetime moment, something that I’ve been working for years. Two, unless you haven’t noticed, that path leads nowhere. Now that Twilight is the princess of magic or whatever, there’s nothing left for the elements of bloody harmony to do. And three? Name the alternative to going to joining the Wonderbolts. I get to stay here and you get to be happy, sure, but what about me? What if I’m tired of boring old weather work? There’s only so many times that beating my own cloud clearance record stays fun. And to top that, Cloudsdale’s already breathing down my neck for me to take up a desk job somewhere; I’ve had to turn down ten job offers this month already. Ten for crying out loud.”
“Su-”
“And for Pete’s sake, stop calling me sugarcube. It’s Rainbow Dash to you, got that? Now do you have any more pathetic attempts you’d like to throw my way before I do go?”
“Just… say hi to Twilight for me.”
Applejack looked across the empty fields at the sunset, slowly slipping below the horizon. Rainbow Dash had left, gone to Canterlot to follow her dreams. It was still taking some getting used to.
Never again would she have an Iron Pony competition with her.
Never again would she wake her from an impromptu nap in the tree.
Never again would she see her laugh as she soared through the sky.
Never again…
She didn’t like change. It came as part of being from a family as traditional as the Apples. But she’s still see through the changes that did happen, for better and for worse. But this had rocked her to her core. The way Rainbow had yelled at her, the way she’d tried to get her to stay. The way she’d yelled louder when she’d brought up the elements of harmony.
She looked down at the pendant, twisted around her hoof.
Honesty.
Honestly… somewhere during their fight, something Rainbow had said had struck true within Applejack. What was the point of an element of harmony if the elements of harmony didn’t have a point anymore? Twilight was an alicorn, if something nasty did crop up, it was hardly going to require anything more than Twilight to do some sort of complicated spell to be rid of it.
And now that Rainbow had left, probably eager to never see her again, she wondered about her own dreams, her own choices. Not that she’d ever had many anyway. She’d accepted that she’d be taking care of Sweet Apple Acres until the day she died, long ago.
It was a family tradition.
But it did raise the question…
What if she’d had a choice in the matter?
Author's Note
Odd stories, yay!