Her hooves struck the large apple tree with a satisfying thud, causing it to shiver appropriately, but only a few apples fell from the branches into the waiting baskets. Applejack glared at the offending tree before taking a deep breath and letting out a resigned sigh.
She'd been off her game since the... incident, unable to properly focus (LOOKOUTITSCOMINGGETOUTOFTHEWAY) She shuddered briefly and shook her head to clear the memory. The fact is, the whole farm was suffering because of it, and she needed to get the south field cleared by the end of the week for the next big shipment to Staliongrad.
Applejack gritted her teeth and turned back to give the tree one more kick when she saw a gray pegasus in a blue mail hat clumsily fluttering her way down the road. She lowered her legs and trotted to the wooden fence that separated the broad dirt path from the apple fields and waved a hoof at her friend.
"Howdy there Ditzy! Ya'all bringin' us some mail?"
Ditzy Doo stopped in mid flight and turned to face Applejack, after a moment she corrected her stuttery course and landed opposite the fence from the farm pony.
"Hi, uh...Applejack.." she said with an odd pause and an uncomfortable smile. Applejack smiled politely, Ditzy had always had some difficulty remembering things, like pony's names, so she knew to be patient with the mail mare.
"If ya'all are just bringing some mail down to the farm I can take it for ya."
Applejack grinned and Ditzy frowned looking back at her mail pouch and to the orange pony.
"I dunno, I'm really only supposed to give the mail to the mailbox. Speedy Delivery said it's Equestrian law."
"Ditzy, who do ya'all think is gonna get the mail at the mailbox? I should head back anyway and it'll save you the trip. You can get home to make the evening muffins all the sooner, right?"
Ditzy went from a look of uncertainty to a wide beaming grin. She shoved her head into her pouch and pulled out three letters, handing them over eagerly before taking to the air. In her excitement she spun around three times and almost knocked off Applejacks hat, who grabbed it tightly to her skull.
"Thanks! You're so nice! I love you! Bye bye!" she called out as she raced back to town.
Applejack grimaced at the near loss of her precious hat and shook her head as she started to head back home. The sun would be setting soon anyway and her legs were sore as anything. She put the envelopes into a half full basket of apples and began loading what she'd managed to harvest onto the wooden cart.
"Granny! I'm back!"
Applejack walked through the front door and gave a quick look around the house. Granny smith was asleep in her rocking chair, nothing unusual there. Big Mac sat in the kitchen preparing some sort of stew, apple based by the smell of it.
"Where's Applebloom? Is she sleepin' out at the tree-house again?" she asked with a bit of annoyance in her voice. Big Mac turned to look at the orange pony, a small frown of concern on his face.
"Eeyup"
"This is gettin' a bit out of hoof. She's done this almost every night since..." (NOITSFALLING)
Applejack shuddered as Big Mac poured her a a large bowl of soup.
"She and Sweetie Belle really need each other right now is all. Some ponies are having trouble dealing with what happened."
AJ took a deep breath and recovered from the memory turning to look at her unusually talkative brother.
"Yeah. I know how that is. But it's been two weeks since we lost Rarity. It's time we all moved on. I know it's been tough on everyone, tough on me too. But we need to start facin' facts and gettin' on with our lives."
Big Mac watched the orange pony's face turn into a deep frown and looked away, unsure what to say himself. He nodded slowly and walked over to Granny who had woken sometime during the conversation, but had chosen to remain silent. She stared at Applejack with large sad eyes and wordlessly took her bowl of soup from Big Mac.
Applejack could see the pain in the old pony's eyes and quickly looked at the mail as she gathered her own soup, stopping when she saw one of the letters addressed to her directly. The other two were simply bills, common enough at the apple farm, and easily ignored for the moment, but a letter from Twilight Sparkle was a bit unusual. Most of the time, if her friend wanted to talk she'd just walk over. She'd done it several times over the past few weeks after all, often spending time talking to everypony on the farm.
She was mighty grateful for how understanding Twilight was, how strong the little Librarian had been during all this turmoil. When everypony else seemed to have trouble thinking, and couldn't stop crying or acting irrationally, Twilight remained stoic and strong. Everyone at the farm was of course devastated, and all of them acting strangely because of what had happened. Applejack frowned deeply at the thought. She had always thought herself a dependable pony, but even now she was having trouble. (THEROPEBROKEDONTJUSTSTANDTHERE)
With a grunt she grabbed the letter firmly in her teeth and held the soup and bowl in one foreleg, trudging her way upstairs and grunting something about eating in her room tonight. The members of the Apple family ignored her and slowly started to eat their own dinner.
Upstairs Applejack set down the soup and opened the letter from her friend.
Dear Applejack,
As you know, some of us are having trouble dealing with the recent loss, and I think we all need to get together to discuss the worst of it and see if we can all find some way to move forward. Please come to the library tomorrow morning around eight.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle
Applejack stared at the note for a moment before setting it down on her end table. Twilight was right. It wasn't just Applebloom, or the rest of the family that was having trouble, obviously. Rainbow Dash seemed to be constantly furious, always yelling at her and running away whenever Applejack tried to talk to her. When she'd tried to visit Fluttershy at her cabin, the Pegasus hadn't even been able to open the door, and she had seen her sobbing gently on her couch through the window. Even Pinkie had been down, offering what was clearly a hollow smile and refusing to talk about the incident when Applejack had gone to drop off the weekly shipment of fresh apples to Sugarcube corner.
Applejack set her jaw and turned to face her mirror. She glared into her reflection and could see her own troubles. She was skinnier than she remembered, just a few weeks of moping about instead of working properly had already caused her to lose some muscle, and with deep bags under here eyes and patches of fur and mane disheveled she was more ragged and tired looking then ever.
It was time to get past the loss of Rarity. The Fashionista was gone. Nothing could bring her back. Everyone needed to deal with this, herself included. Tomorrow she would go the Library and make herself, and the others face the truth.
"Look out!"
"The Rope broke"
"The beam is falling! Get out of the way!"
"Rarity! Don't just stand there!"
"MOVE!"
"RARITY!!!"
Applejack awoke with a start, her chest heaving and her bed soaked in a cold sweat. She turned left and right quickly, noticing the stains on her sheets and cursed herself for not cleaning up properly before flopping into bed. She'd been careless about that recently, Just another problem brought on by her stress.
With a look of resignation she slipped out tot he bathroom and quickly washed herself off before returning to her room. She stopped at her dresser to stare at her reflection. Still ragged, still worn out. It was like looking at a completely different pony then the Applejack she knew before the accident.
Taking a deep breath she opened her cabinet and prepared herself for the day. Getting her mane straight and tied up properly seemed more difficult than ever these days. Finally she took her hat and planted it firmly on her head. It always felt like the key that held her together. Without that simple Stetson, she just wouldn't be Applejack.
Applejack made her way downstairs and was surprised to see Applebloom and Sweetie Belle having a light breakfast at the kitchen table. Both fillies looked worn thin, their eyes deeper and more full of pain then any child should ever have to be. The two crusaders stopped in mid bite as Applejack came down the steps and smiled gently at them.
"Howdy Sweetie, Applebloom... How are you two doin' this mornin'?"
The two fillies looked to each other and then back to the larger pony.
"F..fine, I guess." Applebloom finally managed to stutter. She swallowed deeply and looked back to her friend. Sweetie Belles eyes started to water as she stared at Applejacks hat, the looked down at the pony wearing it.
"I...I want my sister back." she choked out. Applejack tried to keep her smile but her eyes turned down in a sad gaze and she moved closer to the tiny unicorn.
"I'm so sorry Sweetie. I know it's hard, but your sister is gone now, Ya need to learn to accept that."
Sweetie Belle shook her head and the tears streamed down her face.
"I don't understand!" she screamed out "Why is this happening?!"
Applebloom grabbed her friend and held her tightly, Sweetie Belle turned and began to sob uncontrollably into the little yellow pony's fur. Applebloom gave the orange pony a firm glare and frowned.
"That ain't helpin! Don't you have someplace you need to be?"
Applejack took a step back, a look of shock and sorrow on her own face. She hadn't meant to hurt Sweetie, and it broke her heart to see both her friend and her sister in such pain. She lowered her head and made her way outside, intent on getting to the library on time.
The trip into Ponyville proper wasn't really a long one, but it felt longer these days. Many ponies on the street would stop whenever she walked past and watch her go, most with worried looks on their faces. The whole town seemed to think that she and her friends were so fragile after the accident. She knew they meant well, but it really just made the hurt worse, dragged it out, and made it harder for her to move past it.
Halfway to the Library Applejack stopped and stared at a unique, and abandoned building. Carousel Boutique looked bizarre to her now, boarded up windows and half finished construction. The fashionistas old home felt like a house of horrors, warped and corrupted, the planned expansion sticking out of the back of the building like an obscene tumor. Applejack stared, unable to turn her eyes away from the large wooden framework, and from the gap where a large timber beam should have simply been nailed into place what felt like a lifetime ago. (RARITYMOVE!)
Applejack slammed her eyes shut and turned away, her whole body quivering. She couldn't tell what it was. Pain, fear, anger. It made her shake constantly, threw off her concentration, distracted her from living her life at the farm, and was holding her back. She needed to let Rarity go. With a new determined look on her face she stomped toward the library. She would let Rarity go, she had to, and so did everyone else.
Applejack could hear her friends inside. She was slightly surprised, usually she was the first one to any gathering, especially this early in the morning, but from the heated voices she could hear through the door, she was pretty sure everyone else was already inside. It was an important meeting she supposed, and knocked on the door politely before opening it up and letting herself in.
She walked in without saying a word, everyone had stopped their argument and turned to watch her come in. Twilight and Pinkie pie sat at the central table, around that weird wooden horse head statue thing Twilight seemed to like so much. Fluttershy sat behind Twilight and seemed to cower a bit from the orange pony's presence. Rainbow Dash on the other hand stood next to the Pinkie with a deep scowl on her face, her wings quivering in what appeared to be a barely suppressed rage.
"Hello," Twilight gently spoke, her voice quavering slightly "I'm glad you made it."
Applejack smiled sadly and took a few more steps inside.
"I read your letter, and I think you're right."
The other ponies all glanced back and forth at each other, even Pinkie frowned at her friends as some silent communication went on between them. Finally Twilight cleared her throat and looked back.
"I'm glad to hear that. Frankly, we've all been a bit worried about you especially."
Applejack frowned deeply and gave Twilight a puzzled look.
"Me?"
"Yes. I'm beginning to think letting you stay alone at the farm was a mistake. I'd hoped you get better quickly, but instead, you seem to be getting worse."
"I know." Applejack lowered her heads and again her friends gave each other strange glances.
"I have the incidents all the time. Those flashes of memory, and I can't focus anymore. But I think I know what's wrong, and what has to be done."
"That's good news, we should talk about..."
"Now wait a sec,"the Orange pony interrupted Twilight with a raised hoof and a firm voice, "Just let me have my say while I still can." The other ponies watched their friend carefully and said nothing. Rainbow dash narrowed her eyes and glanced at Twilight before turning back. Applejack took a few deep breaths and finally found the courage to speak.
"We all need to face a few facts. After the accident, we lost a friend, a good one, and one we will rightly miss. But the fact is, She's gone, and there was nothing any of us could do about it."
Twilight nodded her head slowly and waved a hoof to encourage her friend to continue.
"It was just an accident, but ultimately, if we have to blame anyone. We need to blame Rarity herself."
"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash's wings flared open in anger and she lowered her head to charge forward. Twilight sighed deeply and coated the blue Pegasus in a telekinetic field, keeping her from attacking their mutual friend.
"I know ya'all don't want to hear it, but it's the truth! Rarity was the one who ordered the expansion, Rarity was the one who hired that idiot Turnip Truck to do the work just because his family was in hard times. The accident was her fault for not paying properly for a good construction team"
("I know it may not be the most professional job, but Turnips family is in desperate need after the new baby, and he's really quite competent." The fashion pony walked through the site with her friends in tow, all excited about the prospect of a newer, bigger shop for the fashion pony.
"The job will be done remarkably soon, and then i'll have all the space i need to hire some apprentices and really expand production so I can start taking in some of those big job orders from Canterlot.")
Applejack shuddered as the memories flooded through her again, but she needed to do this, she needed everyone to see. Rainbow Dash sputtered incoherently and Pinkie and Fluttershy hugged each other tight, their eyes watering from their friends words. Only Twilight stood passive, her eyes half lidded as she listened with no expression showing on her calm face, only the slow glow of her magic as it held Rainbow Dash in place.
"You need to see it for what happened Rainbow! No more lies! And it wasn't just the shoddy construction! When it came down to it, she was the one who stood there! She didn't even try to move,"
(With a snap a timber swung loose from its place above the visitors, Turnip Truck and his brother Turnip Seed leapt forward and grabbed at the end of the rope, but it was too late, the huge wooden timber fell from its morning and plummeted to the ground. Instinct and reflexes kicked in as Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie all dived out of the way. But Rarity Stood there, her shock keeping her in place as the heavy timber sailed directly at her, bringing with it certain death. She could hear the others calling for warning, but it didn't seem to get through to her. The looming timber became her entire world.)
Once again Applejack clutched at her chest, her heart pounding so hard the sound of it flooded her ears and made everyone else seem dull and distant. Twilight finally spoke out, her words like a distant whisper.
"It wasn't Raritys fault. It was just an accident."
"NO!" cried out Applejack struggling to stand, "It was her own fault! If she had been more attentive, if she hadn't been so stupid about so many different things!"
"I can't take this anymore!" screamed out Rainbow dash and with a great heave she pulled herself from a startled Twilights magical grip, charging at her friend. Fluttershy sobbed uncontrollably, clinging to Pinkie Pie who did her best to shush and comfort her friend. Twilight shook her head and instead of re-capturing the pegasus, used her magic to grip something she had stashed behind the table.
"It's the truth Rainbow!" Applejack screamed back even as her friend slammed into her, "Rarity was a shallow, stupid pony, whose carelessness got herself killed!
"That isn't what happened! Stop Lying!" Rainbow dash snarled angrily, tears streaming from her face as she wrestled her friend to the ground holding her on her back.
"Yes it is! She was so useless! So worthless! I don't know anypony ever wanted to deal with that short sighted, idiotic, selfish, shallow...!"
"She didn't die, and you need to face that," Twilight said calmly as she walked forward. Applejack looked at her in confusion and then horror when she saw floating in Twilights grip a large metal bucket.
"NO! No! Rarity Died! She's dead and gone and good riddance!" tears began to stream down her face. The bucket of water tipped over and washed over Rainbow dash and her friend alike. Applejack screamed in pain as her orange coat dripped off her and puddled onto the floor. Horror gripped her as she watched her hat fall away with the water and her golden main start to change color, her three apple cutie mark melting away like butter in the hot sun.
"It's Rarity's fault she died! It's all her fault this happened!"
(Rarity felt the hooves shove her, finally breaking her stupor and bringing her back to the real world. She heard the terrible wet sound of solid wood crushing pony bones and flesh. She lay on the ground, unable to move as a brown stetson landed just inches away from her, a few drops of spattered blood dripped down the hat and she saw a small pool of red gather and grow just in her field of view.)
The other ponies slowly backed away from their friend. She lay curled in a ball on the floor, a pool of orange makeup and gripped the stetson hat tightly to her chest.
"It's all her fault. All of it. Rarity is the pony that died there. A....Applejack is brave and strong, and beautiful and kind and so much better then that ugly dumb unicorn. Rarity was weak and stupid. Rarity d...died that day."
She clutched herself tighter as her friends watched, all of them with tears flowing down their own cheeks, unable to do anything but watch silently as she sobbed, tears streaming down her white muzzle.
"It's Rarity's fault. I should have been the one that died..."
Author's Note
For a story I wrote in a couple hours one morning, I don't think it came out so bad.
