A Silver Lining
Peaceful nothingness. That was all she could feel. Everything was dark and all was silent. Sleep seemed to be her only escape these days. Here in her peaceful dream-world she could not be touched by the harsh hand of reality. Here she was almost able to forget about it all and that was exactly what she wanted most. Her memories haunted her every waking moment but here they mercifully let her be.
"..."
She felt a disturbance in the void that was her slumber. It was most likely nothing, but no matter what she did the presence would not be ignored.
but herself in her dream world.
"Sis, ya gotta wake up. Ah know ya don’t wanna be bothered, but it's almost time fer supper."
It was her little sis, Applebloom’s, voice. She was waking her up and it was working. The peaceful darkness started to fade. She opened her eyes, no longer asleep, and immediately regretted it. The light was unbearable. It was mid-to-late afternoon judging by the sunlight streaming in through her open bedroom window
"C’mon Applejack. Big Mac and I are worried about ya. Ya aint even gotten outta bed yet today." Her sister sounded sad and she knew why. Even her groggy post-sleep mind
"................................."
It was stronger this time. It felt as if she was being summoned by some external force, and it didn’t seem likely that it would go away until she responded.
"Hey Sis?" She heard the voice, barely. It sounded familiar but there was nopony here was able to remember what today was. It had been ten years now to the day, but the pain and sorrow came back just as strong every year. That was why she had slept all day, why she hadn’t moved a muscle since yesterday, hadn’t spoken to anypony all day. Every year on this day she tried her best not to think about it, but, like clockwork, the memories always came back, never lacking in their cruel vividness.
She was with her five best friends having a great time playing around and relaxing on that late summer day ten years ago. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and herself had all taken the day off to spend time with each other at the pond near Fluttershy’s cottage. The sun was shining and the water felt wonderful. They were all enjoying the beautiful day, but it would be a theme that day for beautiful things to end.
Sometime in the afternoon the sun was suddenly blocked out. A large dark storm cloud had blown in and now threatened them with a rumble of thunder. It wasn’t uncommon for the natural weather over the Everfree forest to blow its way over Ponyville and it was often too big for the small weather team of Pegasus lead by Rainbow Dash to do anything.
Fluttershy offered to have everyone over for some warm tea while the storm passed. The five others eagerly packed up and headed up the trail to the small cottage. They got there just in time too. Not more than five minutes after arriving a wall of rain struck the small cottage along with a howling wind that made the house creak. The girls would not be hampered by a little storm and still found they could have a good time even when stuck inside.
They were playing a game of charades when they all heard it. The sound broke through the constant drone of the wind, rain, and thunder while pinkie bounced up and down waving her hooves around trying to imitate Celestia knows what. To most anypony it sounded like the frightened yelps of just some sort of animal, but to Fluttershy and AppleJack it was a cry for help. It was Winona, Applejack’s dog, and she was in trouble.
She had had Winona for years and knew that whatever had happened wasn’t good. “Dontcha worry Winona!!! I’ma comin’.” Before she could make it to the door, though, she was stopped by Fluttershy’s quiet voice.
“I’m coming too.” Fluttershy, being so good with animals, had often spent time with Winona when Applejack was away. It was in her nature to help any animal that needed it.
“Now wait just one moment girls. You can’t be serious.” Rarity looked rather worried. “The storm is dreadful. It really isn’t a good idea to go out there right now.”
“And what? Let Winona suffer without even tryin ta help? No. I havta try, but that doesn’t mean you gotta risk yerself comin with me.” Her gaze fell upon Fluttershy.
“I love Winona almost as much as you Applejack. I’m going with you.” When it came to helping out her animal friends Fluttershy could not be swayed. They all knew it and nobody bothered to challenge her.
“Just be careful you two. If you aren’t back soon the rest of us are coming to get you okay?” Twilight was worried, and for good reason. If anything the storm had only gotten worse, pelting the tiny cottage with rain and wind.
“We will. Don’t you worry none. We’ll be back before ya know it.” She looked at each of her friends in turn ending lastly on Rainbow Dash who had been strangely quiet.
“Don’t let anything happen to her AJ.” Rainbow had know Fluttershy since they were little Fillies at flight school and had always acted somewhat like a protective older sister towards the timid, pink maned pegasus. It was no wonder she was worried so much.
“Ah promise, we’ll be fine.” Fluttershy was already at the door waiting for her. They heard Winona cry out again. “C’mon Fluttershy let’s go, and fast!” She was now genuinely worried about her pup. The two went out the door and were forcefully greeted by the storm. The wind was so bad that Fluttershy didn’t even bother attempting to fly but instead tried to keep up with Applejack’s quick pace on the ground. Winona yelped again and they altered their course through the downpour towards the sound.
“Winona!!! Where are ya girl?” She now heard whimpering coming from the edge of the forest not too far away. There, down at the bottom of a decent sized creek bed lay Winona. It didn’t take long to assess what had happened. The poor dog must have slipped and tumbled down the steep incline. It looked like at least one of her paws was broken and she would never make it back up the side of the little valley alone.
“Oh no. How are we going to get down there?” Fluttershy had just caught up. She had a good point. The slope was too steep and slippery to descend safely and it seemed to stretch on like that for a ways in both directions.
“Ah don’t know but we need to figure out somthin’, and fast. The creek water is risin’ mighty quick.” The storm’s rain was starting to affect the flow of the creek, increasinging its volume by the second. If they didn’t get to Winona soon she would be washed away by fairly large current.
She took a step closer to the edge to look for a way down, but the ground under her forehooves gave way. She started falling over the edge but was stopped abruptly. Fluttershy, seeing her friend in danger, had quickly grabbed her tail in her mouth and was now holding on with all of her strength. This gave Applejack enough stability to regain her balance and back away from the apparently treacherous edge.
“Aw horseapples! The rains gone and made the ground here all unstable. There aint no way we can make it down on hoof.” Now she really was really getting worried. The rain and wind had gotten even worse. A sudden gust carried the whimpers of Winona up the slope.
That was enough to break her. Winona was going to die and there was nothing she could do. She felt hopeless. If it weren't for the rain the tears would have been easy to see as they fell away from her face. She turned to look at Fluttershy unable to hide how she felt. “A-ah can’t help her.” She saw the sympathy in Fluttershy’s expression but it only made her sorrow worse. She was almost whimpering like Winona now and it took all of her self control to not lie down in the mud and sob.
The idea came to her then. It forced its way passed the morbid thoughts in her head. It was the only thing that might work, but how could she ask her friend to do somthing like that. “Hey Shy?” She looked over to Fluttershy again and tried to talk but couldn’t get herself to say the words once she saw that face. It mirrored perfectly how she felt and it was too much.
She looked down defeated. There was no way she could ask Fluttershy to attempt the currently treacherous flight down into the creek bed. It would most likely be suicide for any but the strongest of fliers and there was no time to go back for Rainbow. The water had now risen up to Winonas feet where she lay, shielding her lame paw. At this rate they had a minute, two at best, before she was washed downstream and most likely drowned in the ever growing rapids.
Whether be it from her depressed state of mind or the weather, she almost didn’t hear it. Once her eyes managed to locate the cause of the sound and her mind was able to finally put it all together it was too late for her to do anything to stop her. Fluttershy must have known from the moment they got to the creek that she was the only one who could save poor Winona.
“FLUTTERSHY STOP!!!!” She shouted as loud as she could but it was too late. Either her words had been lost in the wind, or Fluttershy had ignored them. Either way the frail, pink-maned pegasus continued on through the wind and rain. It was clear how badly the storm was affecting her already poor flying. The wind was really batting her around, threatening to throw her against the slope or into a nearby tree.
“Please Fluttershy, be safe.” She was almost there now, only about twenty feet away from Winona. Applejack let out a sigh of relief. They were going to be okay. She couldn’t believe it, but they looked like they were actually going to be okay.
Fluttershy landed, a little clumsily due to the storm, and was reaching out to Winona when it happened. A bolt of lightning struck so close to apple jack that she could taste ozone. The bolt had hit one of the nearby trees, and had successfully sliced it in half. The top half was now slowly leaning inch-by-inch over the edge of the incline.
Applejack was frozen by the lightning strike and watched the tree fall, so slow. The seconds that it took felt like hours, but the whole time she could not will her body to move. The tree fell end over end down the slope, cartwheeling almost. Near the bottom it bounced weird sending it straight towards her friend.
Fluttershy had just turned to see the tree hurtling towards her, but it was too late now. Applejack watched from where she stood, rooted in place. She watched as Fluttershy tried to take off into the air before it hit her. Watched the tree strike her anyways and send her limp body hurtling through the air downstream. Watched as the flash flood came down through the creek bed and dragged Winona and Fluttershy to parts unknown. All she did was watch.
By the time she finally was able to will her legs to move, both her pet and friend were out of sight, swallowed by the current. She ran downstream after them for as long as she could, but eventually she just collapsed, anguish and exhaustion taking hold of her. It was her turn to whimper into the night with pleas of help.
It was all her fault. Why didn’t she do anything? Why didn’t she warn her friend? Why didn’t she stop Fluttershy from the start? The adrenaline that had been brought on by the traumatising events had worn off, and the sprint had really worn her out. She was cold, so cold. She could feel herself fading, giving in to the numbing cold. What was the point in holding on to her life when it could all end just like that. It looked like she would be seeing Fluttershy and Winona again real soon. She closed her eyes and let everything fade to black.
The next thing she knew she was back in Fluttershy’s cottage, wrapped in three or four layers of blankets next to the small fireplace in the den. Rainbow Dash was hovering a few feet above her, looking extremely on edge. She definitely felt warmer and much better than she had back near the creek, or rather river now. The events from earlier came back all too quickly. She started to cry again.
Rainbow Dash must have heard her. “A-AJ? Y-you're awake?” She sounded really worried. “Oh thank Celestia, Applejack, you’re alright.” She came down and landed gently next to her earth pony friend. “What’s wrong AJ? Are you hurt?”
Applejack looked at the Blue Pegasus and saw a truly rare sight. Rainbow’s expression was taught with fear but strangely devoid of the sadness that she expected to see. So they don’t know yet. She took a moment to regain what she could of her normally stoic composure before saying, “Ahm fine, its jus...” but before she could say another word the door to the cottage opened and three rain-soaked mares trotted in.
Rainbow immediately flew over to her friends and pelted them with questions. “What happened? Are you guys ok? Did you find her? Is she alright? Does she ne---” She was cut off abruptly by a raised purple hoof.
“We looked everywhere and shouted as loud as we could, but there was no sign of her anywhere. I even cast a seeking spell that should have revealed where she was unless she was more than a few miles away.” It was clear how worried Twilight was. In fact, just one look at her four friends was enough for Applejack to see how worried they all were.
“I just don’t see where she could be. We looked EVERYWHERE for her.” Pinkie Pie looked terrible. With her mane so soaked it lay flat unlike it’s normally bouncy and curly style.
“Th-that's c-cause she aint out th-there to be f-found.” Applejack could barely speak through the tears she was holding back. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity looked over noticing Applejack for the first time since arriving.
“Applejack!!! You’re ok!!! Pinkie’s normal demeanor peaked through slightly and Applejack thought she saw the tips of straight pink hair start to curl.
“Oh thank goodness you’re alright, but whatever do you mean? Isn’t out there to be found?” Rarity, always so meticulous about her looks, looked terrible after being out in the storm. Her purple mane was a mess from the wind, her white coat was soaked, and her hoofs were covered in mud.
“Applejack? Do you know what happened? What happened to Fluttershy?” Twilight’s expression was one filled with worry but Applejack could see the twinkle of hope. The hope that everything was going to be ok and that Fluttershy was fine. It was time to destroy that hope. Even if it meant hurting her friends, Applejack was the element of honesty. She had to tell them the truth.
“F-Fluttershy...” She couldn’t get the words out. She had the full attention of her four friends and seeing their faces all like this was too much. All of the pain she had been attempting to hold back came rushing forth in a torrent of tears and sobbing. In one last attempt between fits she finally managed to utter one sobbed phrase.
“She’s dead.”
She pulled herself away from the haunting memories of the past, back to the slightly less traumatizing present. Even now, after ten years of sorrow, she could somehow still cry. As her tears fell to meet the ground they were soon joined by the tears of another pony, Applebloom. Her little sister had joined her on the edge of the small bed at some point while she was lost in the past.
The past ten years had not been much better for poor little Applebloom. Of course she was not as good friends with Fluttershy as Applejack was, but it was still a lot for such a young filly to go through. That along with losing Winona had been enough to crush most of the joy out of her sister’s big orange eyes for some time. She had slowly recovered though, everypony but Applejack it seemed had. Unfortunately, Fluttershy’s passing had been shortly followed by more tragedy. She could feel the haunting memories pull themselves forward again.
The four Apple’s had just finished eating a delicious dinner consisting of apple dumplings. It had been Granny’s turn to cook. All of them helped with cleanup and then the little family had settled down for the night in the den by the fire.
It was only Fall, but the air was brisk at night. Poor Granny’s joints didn’t work quite right these days and the cold only made it worse. She had started sleeping in her old rocker here by the fire. She claimed it helped but she still seemed as stiff as ever.
The night wasn’t much different from most these days. Granny slowly nodded off while the two younger mares played a few card games like Old Mare and Go Fish. Big Macintosh, always the quiet one, silently observed from the couch. He occasionally got up to tend the fire, but overall nothing seemed out of place tonight.
It didn’t take long for the three siblings to tire and follow their grandmother’s lead. Each of them said their goodnights and went to their respective bedrooms on the second floor.
“Applejack, wake up.” For all of Big Mac’s size his voice was almost never raised. Even now while trying to wake her up he kept the volume down almost too quiet for her to hear.
“Yeah Big Mac? What’s the rush? It’s Saturday, ain’t it?” She yawned and rolled over to face him. Big Mac looked really anxious, but about what she had no idea. “What's up? Somthin on yer mind?”
“Pease sis just do what I say. Go into Applebloom’s room and stay with her. I gotta run into town quick. Don’t come downstairs till I come get you.” He turned to leave without saying another word, but she wasn’t about to let him off the hook that easily.
By the time she got herself untangled from her sheets and caught up to him, he was already at the bottom of the stairs. She stopped him here with a gentle hoof on his back. “C’mon and spill the beans. What’s got ya all worked up?” He didn’t say a word but instead motioned towards the den. As her eyes followed his hoof, he spoke.
“Ah really had hoped you would stay upstairs. You of all people didn’t need to see her like this.” It didn’t take long for Applejack to grasp what he was saying. She was looking straight at Granny Smith in her old rocker. If it weren’t for the unnatural stillness and Big Mac’s poorly concealed tears, she would have thought the old mare was just sleeping.
“Please Big Mac! Please tell me shes not.” When he didn’t answer she turned away from her grandmother to face him. He didn’t need to say anything. The tears now freely flowing from her big brother’s eyes were enough proof. Granny Smith was dead.
The two sisters sat in each other's embrace trying to drown their sorrowful memories in tears. For a while the sound of their combined whimpers where all that could be heard. Eventually, once both sisters could cry no more, Applejack broke the silence.
“C’mon sis.” The not-so-little mare looked up at her older sister. Her eyes still shimmered from a few remaining tears. “Why don’t you an I go get some grub.” She wiped the few remaining tears from her sister’s face. “I bet some of Big Mac’s cookin’s just what we need.” She forced a smile and the two begrudgingly broke their embrace to head downstairs. Applejack still didn’t feel much better, but once the two sisters entered the kitchen her stomach won out over her broken spirit. The smell of Big Mac’s cooking never failed to make her hungry no matter how bad she felt.
Ever since Granny Smith had passed away, her brother had made a point of taking full responsibility for the small family. He had always been more or less in charge of running the farm, but these days he did much more. If it weren’t for Big Macintosh they would have surely lost the farm long ago.
Along with all of the grunt work he did, Big Mac had also taken time to learn how to duplicate all of Granny Smith’s recipes almost perfectly. He could make anything from apple fritters to caramel apples that were always just as good, if not better, than their grandmother’s cooking.
“What ya got cookin fer us tonight Big Mac?” She tried to hide her emotions, but even she could hear the sadness in her voice.
“Apple fritters with a side of cheesy hay fries.” He knew that was her favorite and had gone out of his way to try to cheer her up today. Big Mac was always doing little things like that for his two younger sisters. If it weren’t for him Applejack didn’t know what she would do.
The three sat in silence during the meal. There was no need for comforting words tonight, being together as a family was what really mattered. As they all finished eating and the last hay fry disappeared from the platter they had shared, the siblings each started cleaning up the meal. Applejack went to start the water for washing the dishes but was stopped by her brother.
“Ah can take care of cleanin’ up tonight sis.” The look he gave her was one of genuine sympathy. She silently thanked him with a small smile and slowly trotted to the front door. It was just starting to get dark out and the last of the sun was barely visible behind the mountains off to the west. She turned back towards the kitchen before opening the door.
“Hey Big Mac?”
“Eeyup?”
“Ahm goin’ out fer a bit.”
“Where ya goin sis?” Even from the other room she could still hear the concern in his voice. She couldn’t blame him for being worried.
“Ah just need some air is all.” A walk through the orchard always seemed to calm her mind if only a little.
“Don’t be gone long ya hear?” She was slightly annoyed by his protectiveness, but who could blame him after what she had done a couple years ago.
She was bad off, and everypony knew it. After losing one of her best friends, her dog, and then, shortly after, her grandmother, it was no wonder she always seemed so depressed. It had been almost eight years since Fluttershy had died, and ever since that day the friendship between the remaining five mares had slowly followed suit. They began drifting apart, spending less and less time with each other.
Of course she could argue with herself that it was just each of their separate lives getting in the way, but deep down she knew that there was more to it than that. Without Fluttershy, the elements of harmony that they each represented were incomplete. The power of their friendship was broken and along with that the magic that brought them together.
Applejack was out in the apple orchard on one of her late afternoon strolls. The sun burned a bright orange just above the horizon, basking the apple orchard with the last few rays of sunlight until it rose again in the morning. She was alone, only the birds in the trees kept her company with their last calls of the day.
She often came out here in the evenings to relax and clear her mind of all the troubles that bothered her. She usually just aimlesly wandered between the rows of trees, not really caring where her hoofs lead her, but tonight she had a purpose. She headed straight towards the tallest hill on the farm, one of her favorite places to rest during a hard days work.
All she had on her was her always present cowpony hat and one of her thick ropes she used for lassoing livestock. She could see the massive tree that grew from the crest of the hill now. That was when reality of the situation set in.
She knew exactly why she was out here and what she planned to do, but it was still surprising. She knew it was for the best though and continued her walk up the slope, only slightly slowing her pace.
As her destination slowly got closer her mind started to wander towards her old friends. The five mares who had been closer to her than anypony but her family. The ponies she trusted with her life. They had gone on so many adventures and learned so much from each other in the years they had shared. And now they were all gone.
She could feel her eyes dampening as she thought about each of them in turn. One by one she saw their faces as she last remembered them, trying her best to remember them the way they were before Fluttershy’s passing.
Fluttershy... Even to this day Applejack blamed herself for the innocent yellow mare’s death. No matter how many times ponies told her “it’s not your fault,” she still blamed herself. That timid mare was the kindest pony Applejack had ever met. While she could be very shy at times, she was nice to everypony unconditionally, and her absolute devotion to her woodland creatures was something Applejack had always admired.
Rarity... They never did see eye to eye when it came to most opinions. Their personalities tended to clash but it was that clash that brought them even closer as friends. The fashionista’s boutique had gained national recognition a few years back. Rarity had jumped on the opportunity and moved to Manehatten to open up a much larger boutique. From the letters and occasional visits It sounded like she was doing quite well for herself. As time went on, the visits ceased and the letters became more and more infrequent, until eventually they stopped altogether. Applejack was happy for her friend’s success, but she missed the purple maned unicorn more than she ever thought she would.
Pinkie Pie... Picturing the joyful ear-to-ear grin on that pink pony’s face was enough to make her smile a little even now. Pinkie Pie could cheer up anypony no matter the situation, or at least she used to be able to. A few months after fluttershy died Pinkie Pie was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.
According to the doctors it had been there all her life, but up until the traumatic experience of losing her friend, it hadn’t been doing any harm to the surrounding brain tissues. The tumor began to feed off of Pinkie’s stress and depression, making it grow and mutate rapidly. It began to cut off blood flow to more and more of her brain, and in less than a month the constantly hyperactive pony was reduced to nothing more than a motionless vegetable on life support in the Ponyville hospital.
Since Pinkie had no family that anypony knew how to contact, the decision whether or not to pull the plug was put to her four close friends. They all agreed that nopony, especially one like Pinkie, should be forced to live the life of a motionless vegetable. The next day Pinkamena Diane Pie died.
She never told anypony, but Applejack blamed herself for Pinkie’s death as well. She knew it wasn’t her fault, but in the back of her mind she also knew if she had stopped Fluttershy the tumor wouldn’t have mutated as it did. She knew from that day on that laughter and happiness would never again come too easy.
Twilight... She had known Twilight for the shortest time out of all her friends, but that did nothing to diminish their friendship. The purple Unicorn had always been around to offer her wealth of knowledge to anypony who needed it. Princess Celestia had sent Twilight to Ponyville to learn about friendship, but in Applejack’s mind Twilight was the one who taught the rest of them. It was because of Twilight that the six mares had become such good friends.
When she had been transformed into an Alicorn and crowned a princess of Equestria, Twilight had promised that nothing would change and that she would always put her friends first. As time went on though her duties as a Princess wore on her. The constant travel between Ponyville where she lived and Canterlot where she helped rule was too much even for the now immortal princess.
Twilight had moved back to Canterlot soon after Pinkie had died. Applejack couldn’t blame her. It was very hard to walk through Ponyville, especially around Sugarcube Corner without remembering the Pink mare that always bounced around with a huge grin on her face.
Unlike Rarity, Twilight did still write even now, but even with the letters every week or so, Applejack hadn’t seen her friend in years. Ruling a nation was hard work and took all the time Twilight didn’t devote to her studies.
Rainbow Dash... The multichromatic maned Pegasus whom Applejack had always admired had taken Fluttershy’s death the worst. The two pegasus had been best friends since their time at flight school years and years ago. Fluttershy had been the one to convince Rainbow to move to Ponyville from her home in cloudsdale.
Applejack had noticed it more than most of her friends at the time. When Fluttershy died Rainbow Dash became very distant to everypony. She just never quite acted like the Rainbow Dash Applejack knew.
Whenever Applejack approached her on the subject she got nowhere. Rainbow always insisted that she was fine and that nothing was wrong. Then Pinkie had died.
That was the breaking point for the tough cyan pegasus, because after that day Rainbow’s mood changed so drastically that it was obvious to everypony. She started skipping weather duty occasionally and then was fired when she stopped coming altogether. Her cloud home literally fell apart and dispersed from lack of maintenance.
The pegasus was broke, homeless, and jobless. She had been kicked out of every bar and pub in Ponyville for drinking till she passed out and then not being able to pay for her enormous tab.
Applejack tried to help by offering Rainbow a room in their house and food in exchange for some help around the farm, but her hot-headed friend declined claiming she didn’t need help from anypony. They had argued about it at the time, Applejack unsuccessfully trying to convince Rainbow to find help and to get her life back on track, but Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have any of it.
A week later Rainbow Dash simply disappeared without so much as a goodbye. She had tried to find out where the pegasus had flown off too but knowing Rainbow Dash, she could be anywhere in Equestria. It had been almost seven years since Applejack had seen or heard from her friend. She hated to think about it, but most likely Rainbow Dash was dead.
She made it to the top of the hill just as the sun slid below the horizon. Her friends were lost to her now. That was why she justified her actions. She could never do this to them, but they were all gone. She knew it would was selfish of her to put her brother and sister through yet another tragedy but she couldn’t take it anymore. The magic of friendship had died along time ago and now the only thing that kept her going was her body’s natural instinct to survive.
She took the rope from around her neck and carefully started tying the knot she had perfected over the last few days. When she was done she climbed up the tree to hang it from on of the thick apple bearing branches.
When she climbed back down she cringed at the sight. The perfectly tied noose swayed eerily in the night breeze. She had already decided to follow through with this no matter what, but it still scared her to think about it too much. She took one last look at the farmland she had called her home all her life before returning to the tree. Here she took off her hat and carefully unfolded the piece of paper she had put inside. It was a letter she had written earlier that day that tried to justify her actions. She knew nothing ever could, but it was worth a try. She set the letter and her hat at the base of the tree and weighted them down with a couple fallen apples. They sight was like staring at her own tombstone. All that was missing was “R.I.P.” carved into the tree trunk.
She climbed back up to the branch and slipped the loop of the noose over her head and around her neck. At that point some part of her hoped somepony would come running to stop her, but she knew nopony would.
She carefully lowered her self off of the branch hanging on only with her forehooves. She could feel the loop tighten slightly. She let her mind drift back to her friends one last time. To Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and even Rainbow Dash she said out loud. “Here I come,” and with that she let go.
“Ah won’t be long Big Mac.” She closed the door behind her and retraced her steps from that night, only this time without a rope strung around her neck. She still couldn’t believe what had happened that night. She had blacked out soon after letting go of the branch but her brother had filled her in on what had happened from that point on.
Her brother thought he sensed something wrong that night and had decided to try and catch up to her and join her walk through the orchard. He had no idea where to look though and wandered aimlessly for awhile. He said if it hadn’t been for the full moon that night he never would have found her.
He had seen her limp hanging figure silhouetted against the bright moon and sprinted up the hill at a speed that would have impressed Rainbow Dash. When he got there his determination to save his sister clouded his judgment and instead of untying the noose, he bucked the entire tree over. She was still breathing when he removed the rope from her neck but the breaths were short and labored. He managed to carry her all the way to the Ponyville hospital where the doctors were able to reopen her almost crushed airways.
Had he been much later in finding her, or if she hadn’t been so tough from years of hard farm work she would have died. When she looked back she still didn’t know if she would have prefered to die that night or not. All she did know was that she wouldn’t do it again. Not while her two remaining family members still lived.
Even Rarity and Princess Twilight returned to Ponyville when they got the news. They were very concerned for their friend for awhile after that and made it a point to visit and write much more often. For a good while it looked like things would start getting better for her. She was reunited with two of her best friends and looked forward to each visit, but just as before it didn’t last forever. Rarity got too wrapped up in her work again and Twilight just didn’t have enough time in the day for her friend.
Thats where she was stuck now. Friendless again with little hope of any change. She could usually lose herself in hard work, but there was only so much work that could be done on their small farm. There were always days like today where the pain and sorrow would flood back into her head.
She had reached the fallen tree on top of the hill and sat down next to it on the grass. It was so peaceful here that she could almost say she was happy for once. her two dead friends, her other two friends that she never saw, and her grandma left her mind for now. They would come back, she knew, but for now they couldn’t bother her. Only one mare from that past remained.
This had been Rainbow Dash’s favorite tree to sleep in during the afternoon, and Applejack had often found her here while working on the orchard. She never had understood why she liked sleeping in her hard, uncomfortable apple trees all the time, especially when she could nap in the soft clouds whenever she liked.
Applejack didn’t know if it was because of the small hope that Rainbow would one day return or some other unexplained reason, but she missed the Cyan Pegasus the most. She had never admitted it to anypony, but she had had a crush on Rainbow Dash for a long while. The only pony other than herself to know was Rarity.
The fashionista had a way of just knowing these things and had approached Applejack on the subject long ago. Being the element of honesty did have its drawbacks. She was a terrible liar and couldn’t deny Rarity’s suspicions. Luckily Rarity had kept her mouth shut at her request.
She had never tried to approach Rainbow Dash though worried that it would harm their friendship. Also, while she had her own suspicions, she wasn’t sure exactly which way the Cyan mare swung. Fillyfoolers were common enough in Ponyville. Considering the colt to mare ratio, it was only natural. But it was just as likely that Rainbow was straight and would have no interest in her as a marefriend.
As she sat there on the hill she could picture the Cyan mare sprawled casually on the fallen tree beside her looking down at her, a grin plastered on her face.
“Why'd ya go and knock down my favorite tree AJ.” Her imagination got the best of her sometimes, but it was better than having nopony to talk to.
“So you would stop nappin’ all day and do somthin’ productive fer once.” She joked with the apparition.
“Are you calling my lazy?” The cyan mare challenged her.
“No. Ah just think you could be doin’ much better things than sleepin’ everyday.”
“Yeah right. What could be better than sleep?”
Applejack couldn’t argue with that point right now. She was getting really tired herself and let the apparition fade away as she returned her gaze to the night sky. It was late and she knew she ought to head back home, but she was too comfortable here. She didn’t want to leave, and besides she was too tired to make the long walk back down the hill anyway.
Movement in the heavens caught her eye. It was a shooting star and a brilliant one at that. She remembered something her Grandmother had told her long ago about shooting stars. You were supposed to make a wish when you saw one and as long as you kept it to yourself it would come true.
She yawned and then spoke to starry night sky, “Ah wish you were here Rainbow.” With that she fell asleep.
That night she dreamed. They weren’t the nightmares of her past though. No this dream was about Rainbow Dash. She was hurt, badly. She lay on her back in the middle of a city street in a small pool of blood. One of her legs was clearly broken and she was bruised from head to hoof. A good portion of her cyan coat no matched the red streak in her mane from cuts all over her body.
The prone figure started to move, trying to get up, but didn’t make it very far before collapsing back into the growing pool of blood. It was amazing that she was alive, let alone that she could move at all. Applejack want nothing more than to help, but she could only watch in horror as the Pegasus slowly bled out. Her breathing was becoming more and more erratic. Applejack could only stare in horror, wondering who in all of Equestria would do such a thing. The image of her dying friend started to fade away leaving Applejack with only darkness as company.
The next day she was surprised to find her brother and sister curled up next to her on top of the hill. They must have been awfully worried to come all the way out here and then sleep alongside her. She felt bad. Her sibings began to stir.
“Mornin AJ. Sleep well?” At least Big Mac wasn’t mad that she had stayed out here.
“Ah woulda, but ah had a mighty frightening dream about Rainbow Dash. She was all cut up and hurt real bad but there was nothin ah could do about it. It was like ah was just watchin it happen, like ah wasn’t even there.” The dream was still vivid in her mind.
“Well dontcha worry. Its only a dream after all.” He got up shortly followed by Applebloom who yawned before stretching out her limbs.
“Ya didn’t have ta sleep out here with me ya know.”
“Yeah we know, but it sure was a nice night.” Applebloom seemed to be in a much better mood than she had been yesterday. Now that she thought about it she too was in a much better mood as well. Even the dream couldn’t dampen her mood right now. She hadn’t felt this good in a long time, she didn’t care if it lasted or not.
“It sure was Applebloom, it sure was.” The three of them slowly made their way back to the farmhouse to get started with their day. It was time for her to get back into the routine she had followed for years now. Breakfast then chores around the farmhouse and barn until lunch. Then a few solid hours of applebucking in the afternoon. Before it was time for supper. Unfortunately today she wouldn’t make it to even lunch without being interrupted. As she was fixing the hinges on the barn a dark blue pegasus stalion landed nearby and trotted over to her.
“Excuse me ma’am, but is the Sweet Apple Acres?” She set down the tools she was using and face him.
“Sure is. What can ah do ya for?”
“I’m looking for somepony by the name of Applejack.”
“Yer speakin to her.” She offered a cheeky smile.
“Well I’m sorry to inform you that your friend Rainbow Dash is in critical condition. She was almost killed in a street fight in Fillydelphia. She has major internal blee...” He kept talking in his most likely practiced monotone and expressionless voice, but she didn’t hear the rest. It was just like her dream. She hadn’t been dreaming, somehow she had seen it happening.
“Um? Miss?” She had been staring straight ahead of her with her mouth agape.
“Uh sorry. Wh-where is she now?” She was still caught off guard by the message.
“Shes being held at Fillydelphia General. Her health records state Ponyville as her home and you were put down as her only emergency contact. I was sent to tell you as soon as she was stabilized.” Applejack couldn’t believe it. She was Rainbow Dash’s emergency contact? She knew the Pegasus didn’t really have any family, but it was still a surprise.
“Alright. Thank ya kindly sir.”
“I’m sorry.” It was the first time she heard any emotion from the stallion. He took off without another word.
She ran back to the farmhouse to explain everything to her brother and sister. Once she cleared it with Big Mac she started packing a few things for her trip to Fillydelphia. She had to get there as soon as she could and the daily train left in less than an hour. With her bags packed she quickly said goodbye to her siblings and took off at a comfortable trot towards the train depot.
The whole way there she couldn’t stop thinking about the dream she had last night. There was no way it was a coincidence. She had seen the aftermath of the fight the Blue Stallion had described. There was no denying it, but how?
When she arrived it didn’t take long for her to get pointed towards the hospital. The mare she asked said it was a massive white structure a few miles from the train station. She had never been to this city before and couldn’t help but gawk at the massive structures that surrounded her on all sides. The walk didn’t take long.
When she arrived she opened the front door and was greeted by the sterile smell she always associated with any medical building. She walked up to the front desk and told the receptionist pony who she was and why she was here. The Mare checked a few notes and files on her desk then gave Applejack a visitor’s badge and directions to Rainbow Dash’s room.
When she found the room she paused for a moment before opening the door. She was afraid to see her friend in such bad shape, but she had to. She opened the door and immediately saw what she had been worried about. Rainbow had been cleaned up and bandaged by the doctors but Applejack knew exactly what was under each and every bandage.
“D-doc? Back already? Didn’t you just ch-change my bandages?” So she was awake and able to talk at that. Rainbow Dash surely was one strong pony.
“No Dashie. It’s an old friend.” As soon as Rainbow dash heard that voice she tried to turn her head to look but her neck brace held her head in place. Applejack walked over to stand in Rainbow’s field of view. “What have ya gone and done now RD?”
“Just a bit of a fight. They pulled knives on me or else I could have taken em on.” She hadn’t changed a bit.
“Ah bet.” Applejack couldn’t be happier right now. The past was gone for now and the present and future were starting to look bright.
Rainbow Dash recovered surprisingly quick from such bad injuries. The doctors had been amazed. They released her after a week and she had made the trip back to Ponyville together. They had both caught each other up on the past events ever since Rainbow had left.
After a ton of prodding Applejack finally got Rainbow to tell her why she had left. Rainbow had wanted to forget everything just as much as Applejack but in order to do so she thought she would try to start over a new life in Fillydelphia. Apparently it hadn’t been easy coming to the big city with no, money, no home, and no friends. She had lived off the streets all these years fighting for survival. But the one thing Rainbow didn’t regret was that because of how hard it was to get by, she never was troubled by the past.
It took even more prodding from Applejack but eventually Rainbow had agreed to take the offer she was given all those years ago. She would come live with the apple family and help work on the farm. Applejack was elated to hear it and couldn’t wait to get back to the farm.
The first night back after eating dinner with Big Mac and Apple Bloom the two friends went out for trott through the orchard for old times sake. Applejack eventually led them back to her favorite spot on the orchard just as the sun started setting. It wa once again a beautiful evening here on top of the hill next to the fallen tree.
She lay down next to the trunk just as she had a little over a week ago. Rainbow jumped up onto the tree and sprawled herself across the trunk much like Applejack’s imaginary Rainbow Dash had done. The both sat in silence enjoying the sunset. Once the last few rays of sunlight disappeared behind the horizon Applejack spoke up.
“Hey RD?”
“Yeah AJ?”
“There's been somthin ah’ve been meaning to ask ya. Even before everything happened ah wanted to, but ah was afraid.”
“Cmon AJ what is it?”
“We’ve been great friends an all fer years, but ever since ah met ya, well, ah kinda wanted more. Ah was just too afraid it would break us apart.” She paused waiting for her friends reply but when none came she continued. “Rainbow, ah shoulda said it years ago, but... ah love you.” There she said it.
“Applejack did I ever tell you why I liked sleeping in your trees so much?” She patted the trunk of the tree. “I mean they are pretty comfortable and all, but it was to be closer to you. Sleeping in the orchard meant I would get to see you in the afternoons and the smell of the apple trees reminded me of you.”
“Ya really mean that?” She couldn’t believe it they both had felt this way all along but neither would risk their friendship to make a move.
“I sure do.” Rainbow jumped off the tree to lie next to Applejack.
They stayed like that for awhile content to finally be united in a way they had both only ever hoped for. As the night wore on Applejack heard a soft snore come from her side. Rainbow had drifted off to sleep.
She looked up at the starry sky like she had so many other nights, but for the first time she didn’t need a shooting star. Her wish had come true.
Author's Note
I have never written anything but school reports and I pulled this off in a day for the Appledash contest. Thought it was worth a shot. Expect a ton of edits on it over the next couple of weeks.
