My Old Apple Acre Homeby Sith_DreamerChaptersMy Old Apple Acre Home Part 2My Old Apple Acre Home Part 3My Old Apple Acre Home Part 4My Old Apple Acre Home Part 5My Old Apple Acre Home Part 6My Old Apple Acre Home Part 7My Old Apple Acre Home Part 8My Old Apple Acre Home Part 9My Old Apple Acre Home Part 10Extra Chapter: Story TimeMy Old Apple Acre Home Part 1My Old Apple Acre Home Redux Chapter 1My Old Apple Acre Home Part 2Fire. The flames rose and swirled like angry red tornadoes, sucking up everything within their paths. She couldn’t see through them, and the black smoke the created rose so high flying above them would be difficult. Screams cut through the air, managing to reach her ears despite the crackling all around her. She knew who it was. As fast as lightning she zoomed through the flames, the cushion of air around her keeping them at bay, causing only minor singes to her wings. Her vision was a blur of reds and oranges and grey, until suddenly she found an area of peace amidst it all. Despite the sky being shrouded in smoke, she could still clearly see the greens and reds and browns, the colors of living things, completely untouched. All around her was what she could only describe as hell. The walls of flames seemed to ignore this particular area. In the center of this area stood a very familiar farmhouse. An orange earth pony hung out the window, fear in her eyes as she looked around for means to escape this place. Then she looked straight at the Pegasus pony that had emerged from the flames, and let out another scream. The flames behind the Pegasus pony had twisted into a grotesque copy of herself. It cackled wildly above her, and then threw itself into the untouched landscape. She flew as fast as she could to snatch up the orange pony, but she felt her wings suddenly fail her. She dropped to the ground as the horrible flame pony crashed into the farmhouse, obliterating it and anyone inside. The Pegasus pony tried to cry out, but nothing would come to her throat. The flames around the farmhouse twisted and turned again, transforming themselves into an image of the orange pony that the Pegasus had failed to save. Tears of blue flames poured from its eyes as it slowly started to deteriorate, as if the flesh of the pony’s face were rotting away. The flames fell, then rose again, and exploded, engulfing everything in the burning mass. Rainbow Dash awoke extremely unsettled by the dream she’d just had. Panicked, she quickly reached over and pulled back the covers. Applejack’s orange form lay curled up beside her, sleeping soundly. With a sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash gently covered her back up, and climbed out of bed. It was early, somewhere before five in the morning. She paced around the room for a few minutes, worried by what she’d just experienced. She kept telling herself it was just a dream. Her mind, however, continued to try to tell her a different story. You know what it meant, a voice in her head said to her. You’re guilty, guilty of destroying Applejack’s life. Guilty of all the hardship that will surely come from losing her family business. “It’s not my fault,” Rainbow Dash reasoned with herself out loud, “I told you already I had no idea that would happen. And Applejack has never been happier than she has lately.” Then tell her the truth, the voice urged, tell her you were careless, and stupid, and that you burnt down her farm! “I didn’t burn it down! It…was…an accident!” she said louder, almost yelling, then realized that Applejack might hear her. Dash suddenly realized just how she sounded arguing with herself, and tried to shake the voice out of her head. Soon it had stopped, and she was extremely thankful it had. Things were getting better all around, and Rainbow Dash didn’t need anypony thinking she might be crazy. She yawned, realizing just how little she’d slept during the night, and calmly climbed back into bed with Applejack. She grabbed the sheet in her mouth and stretched the covers back up to her chin. She couldn’t get the dream off her mind though. She kept asking herself if she was guilty, and what would it have been like if things had been worse than what they were. Worse, she was beginning to become fearful of what would happen if Applejack ever found out about the cause of the fire. Dash snuggled close to Applejack, who gave a warm sigh in her sleep, and grinned. Dash tried to clear her mind. All she wanted to think about was Applejack. Out at what was left of the orchard, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had taken refuge under one of the last large apple trees still standing. Celestia’s sun was beating down hard today, and Ponyville wasn’t due for any rain until the end of the week. “Phew we,” Applejack sighed, flipping her braid behind her head and shaking her hat to the ground, “Ah’d think even Princess Celestia would know when ta turn the heat down.” Rainbow didn’t seem to notice. She sat gazing into the blue sky, her mind seemingly elsewhere. “Uh, hello, Earth pony to Pegasus pony?” Applejack waved a hoof in front of Dash’s face. Rainbow snapped out of her daze, and looked at Applejack. “Sorry AJ, just got things on my mind,” Rainbow Dash told her, not realizing Applejack would probably ask what it was. “Well, what could possibly be distractin’ ya from such a beautiful day like this?” “Oh…uh, our friends, that’s all. I mean, do you think they should know about us?” Rainbow half lied. She’d actually been thinking about that question at one point or another. “Do ya think they’d have some problem with it?” Applejack questioned her, doubting their friends would be so shallow. “Well, I mean…no, no I don’t think they would. It bothers me though, you know how some of the…less open-minded ponies talk about Lyra and Bon Bon. Let’s not forget all the talk over just where Berry Punch’s daughter came from.” “Does it really matter that much to ya, Rainbow Dash?” she rolled over on her back, not caring that her mane was getting a good coating of dirt across it. Rainbow Dash thought this over for a second. On the one hoof, she wouldn’t want her friends to think anything less of the two. However, the only person that really needed to matter was Applejack, and Rainbow Dash already had her. “No, it doesn’t matter,” Dash answered finally, “I’ve got what matters right here.” Dash rolled over on her back and joined Applejack in an upside down stare at the midday sky. Rainbow had to give Applejack a lot of credit. Even after that day not so long ago when Applejack had decided to stay in Ponyville, she hadn’t wanted to even hardly look at what had been Sweet Apple Acres. And then, one day she got up early and headed out to find Big Macintosh, and help him in the long process of clearing the land. From that point on, when her time permitted, Dash had helped too, and now it once again had some semblance to the orchard that had existed before the fire. With only a few trees, the fields looked rather bare with only the sprouts of grass shooting up, but Rainbow hoped she and Applejack would be able to see the land returned to its former glory. Together. Their vision was suddenly filled with a very large amount of pink. Both confused, they rolled back over and saw Pinkie Pie hanging upside down from the apple tree. “Pinkie Pie! What’n tarnation are ya doin’ up there?” Applejack snapped a bit, concerned over what the pink earth pony had heard. “Well, I was gathering some sticks for Gummy to play fetch with, and the best sticks are always still in the trees so I climbed up here, but then I realized Gummy doesn’t even play fetch! So then I saw you two here and decided to surprise you!” Pinkie carried on for a minute. “Say Pinkie, did uh, did you hear anything?” Rainbow Dash asked her. “Why sure, there’s a whole nest of birds up there going cheep cheep cheep! And there’s all sorts of sounds coming from Ponyville and-“ “Pinkie!” Rainbow interrupted her, “I meant, anything we said.” “Well, gosh, I guess I just wasn’t paying attention to you. Was it something good?” Pinkie’s curiosity was obviously peaked. “Ya’ll mind me askin’ a favor?” Applejack said suddenly “Why sure Applejack, anything.” “Ah was thinkin’, it’s been a while since ya’lls had one of yer famous Pinkie Pie parties, and it’d really cheer me up to go one,” she told Pinkie as the pink pony listened intently. “But uh, me’an Rainbow Dash kinda want to talk to everypony about somethin’ too.” “Oh, surprise telling party! Okie dokie lokie, be there at 7 tonight!” Pinkie said and bounded off into Ponyville. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what to say. She certainly hadn’t expected things to move so fast. More thoughts were already running through her mind, from having the best party ever to an angry mob of ponies chasing the two with torches of burning hay and signs made with giant red letters, exclaiming the word “fillyfoolers.” She could feel herself begin to sweat from nervousness. Applejack caught onto her fear rather quickly. “Now don’t ya’ll be tellin’ me that the Rainbow Dash, best young flier in Equestria, is getting scared over a little party with her friends,” Applejack teased her. After a few deep breaths, Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air and tackled Applejack. The two rolled around for a moment and came to rest back at the trunk of the apple tree. The two burst out into a fit of laughter that lasted for several seconds. Without thinking or caring who might be watching, Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Applejack’s neck and pulled her in close for kiss. For several minutes the two continued, enjoying every moment under the warm rays of Celestia’s sun, Hours went by, and so here they were now, standing at the door to Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie was setting up another one of her signature parties. Lightly, Rainbow Dash knocked on the door. They waited. “Still got cold hooves?” Applejack grinned a little at her, “T’ain’t nopony gonna hear that feeble knockin’.” Rainbow Dash blushed and gave a look of mild bewilderment. Applejack knocked louder. Suddenly the door swung open and Pinkie Pie greeted them, grinning ear to ear. She had a huge new party hat covering her mane, and it appeared as if she’d dyed her tail green. It was actually Gummy, who’d latched on tight to Pinkie’s flank, tail and all. “Gosh,” Applejack gasped a bit, “Gummy sure is getting’ big.” “You wouldn’t believe it! His teeth started growing in and I’ve just had to pull ‘em back out. Oh, but you’re here, and now the party can really get started!” Pinkie bounced away. The two followed slowly behind the pink pony, and headed towards the food on the table. Twilight was already there, her quill and a piece of parchment raised up into the air. “Girls, really glad to see you. I don’t know what you could possibly have to tell us, but I’m sure it could be something really awesome to tell Princess Celestia about,” Twilight told them and winked. “Heh, yeah,” Rainbow Dash tried to keep her cool. When they were out of sight of everyone for a minute, Rainbow Dash nuzzled up to Applejack. “Ohmygosh, AJ, I can’t do this here. What if they don’t like it? What if they think it’s unnatural? Is Twilight ok with that? Rarity? What if it ruins Pinkie Pie’s party!?” Rainbow Dash poured out all her worries. “Whoa, sugarcube,” Applejack said, and pecked her on the cheek, “ You told me not long ago that I was the most honest pony you knew. Well ya’lls the bravest ah know, and ah couldn’t love you more for it. Plus, it’s a party fer us, so I doubt it’d ruin anything.” They took a few minutes just to comfort each other, gathering their courage for the night ahead. Everyone was going to be there soon, including the rest of the Apple family. Big Macintosh had never been one to talk about relationships, so his presence worried Applejack just a bit. Dash let her fears go, and stood up strong. Applejack was right; they could do this, as long as they did this together. They headed back to rejoin the party. “Well, this is an interesting development, darlings,” Rarity said, moments after hearing the news from the couple. “I think its super duper special awesome!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up and down as usual. “I, um, had an idea,” Twilight said, trying to hide the fact that she already knew. “Um, excuse me Twilight, but I think you are a very bad liar,” Fluttershy surprised everyone by saying, then said, “Oh, and Angel and I are very happy for you two.” Twilight turned a shade of red only rivaled by Rainbow Dash’s mane. Her jaw nearly touched the floor. The other ponies in the room just laughed. “It’s just like one of those amazing love stories I found in Twilight’s library!” Pinkie Pie shouted, “Despite great tragedy, love rises from the ashes! And where fire claimed the Apple family’s orchard, the fire of Rainbow Dash’s love burned brighter!” “Heh, well ah just hope I don’t get burned,” Applejack gave a hesitant laugh, obviously disturbed by the mention of the fire. Twilight gave Pinkie a nudge, and then took her aside for a moment to explain why her comments may not have been in the best taste. Rainbow Dash fell back on an old favorite, and said “Pinkie Pie, you’re so random.” Suddenly, an odd feeling hit Rainbow Dash. The dream from that morning began to flash through her head, reminding her yet again of her own mistakes. She tried to brush it off, and keep her composure, but her mind kept showing her the horrible images of Applejack being overcome by the torrent of fire. Rainbow could hear the voice in the back of her mind, slowly creeping back in amongst the noise of the party. She didn’t want to hear it, and began to try and clutter her mind with other things. She walked away from her friends for a moment, trying not to make anything appear wrong. She could feel a single tear as it slid down her cheek. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and tried sucking it all back in. Now wasn’t a good time for any of this. Luckily, Applejack had been distracted by something, and hadn’t had time to see if anything was wrong. The tear had slipped down to her lower jaw, and hung limply from her face. When it finally fell, Rainbow was certain no one had seen anything. Pinkie Pie popped up next to Dash without warning, a look of concern on her face. “Hey Dashie, are you crying?” she asked the cyan Pegasus, “Is something wrong with the party? Oh, I know something is wrong with the party!” The pink pony turned away as if she was going to try to fix something she was not sure of, when Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie’s mane in her mouth, and pulled her back. “No, Pinkie, everything’s great!” Rainbow Dash had to nearly lie through her teeth. “I’m just a little overwhelmed, that’s all. Things couldn’t have gone better, and it couldn’t have been any cooler.” A big smile crossed Pinkie’s face. “Oh Good! I was worried there was something wrong with my party! I mean it was so good it made you cry!” With that, Pinkie hopped off to mingle with the other ponies. Dash let out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t lost her cool, and that Pinkie was oblivious to the truth. She did have to give Pinkie credit though; the sudden interruption by her had completely wiped the dreams from Dash’s mind. Trying to keep her head clear, Dash went back to where the festivities were still going on. Meanwhile, Applejack was preoccupied with her own issues. She had been a little put off by Pinkie Pie’s comments, and while she was sure that the pink earth pony had said it all with the best intentions, she had gotten to thinking about everything her family had lost. Now Applejack had retreated to a corner herself so that no one saw her sudden onset of depression. For a moment she completely forgot about Rainbow Dash, instead focusing her mind on all the good times she’d had at the orchard in the past. She had even met Rainbow Dash there, although at the time she’d thought she was a free-loading apple thief. A long shadow fell across Applejack, making her wake from her daydreams. She looked up to see her big brother standing tall over her. She stood up on all four hooves, and looked up into his face. “Yer lookin’ like you could use somepony ta talk too,” Big Macintosh said, not breaking from his usual demeanor. “Maybe ah am,” Applejack said with long sigh, “It ain’t nothin’ really, just thinkin’ about the farm and everything.” “Eeyup, I have every day since,” Big Macintosh told her, “But we all have ta move on. And I think ya’ll have been doin’ the best o’ all of us.” Big Macintosh scanned his gaze around the room, stopping on a happy Applebloom and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, no doubt devising another scheme to get their cutie marks. He saw Granny Smith rocking in a chair Pinki Pie had sat out especially for her. He saw all of Applejack’s friends, and some other ponies from town laughing and dancing and having a good time. His gaze returned to Applejack. “All these other ponies are here fer you and yer friend,” he said, “And that’s some good support. Cheer up little sister.” Applejack knew Big Macintosh was right. She smiled and through her front legs around his neck and gave him a big hug. She held him close for a moment, and then released him to go back to the others. She didn’t notice the tears rolling down his face as she did, he himself finally losing to his own internal struggles. It didn’t take long for the big red pony to return to normal though, and he too went back to enjoy a little more of the party. Hours later, the party had died down to just a few of the ponies remaining. Rainbow Dash had stayed behind to help Pinkie clean up, while Fluttershy had left with Big Macintosh to help Granny Smith back to her room at Fluttershy’s cottage. Rarity and Twilight had both left early, each having something to do early on the following day. “Another successful Pinkie Pie party,” Rainbow patted the pink earth pony on the back. “Couldn’t ta went any better, sugarcube,” Applejack told her. “Oh thanks guys, but it was all for you! I’m just happy to help!” she exclaimed, and gleefully bounced around. They said their goodbyes and headed out into the cool night air. “I’m always worn out after one of Pinkie’s parties,” Rainbow Dash told Applejack. “Yeah, but, ya know, ah don’t think ah’m ready ta hit the hay yet,” Applejack told her, seemingly los tin thought. “Is…is something wrong AJ?” Dash asked. “ No, but, just, a beautiful night like tonight reminds me of sittin’ in the orchard, watching moon rise under the stars.” Rainbow hadn’t really been paying attention to her surroundings, but suddenly her eyes were drawn to Luna’s huge moon in the sky, surrounded by millions of twinkling lights. With everypony in town asleep, the moon and stars were the only thing illuminating the path back to Twilight’s library. “You know, we could get a better view,” Rainbow suggested. They slipped quietly inside the library, hoping Twilight might still be awake. They slipped into her room, and found the purple unicorn passed out on a pile of books. “Twilight…”Dash whispered in her ear. “Maybe we shouldn’t wake her,” Applejack tried to whisper to Rainbow. “Hey TWILIGHT!” Rainbow suddenly screamed. Twilight jumped awake and fell off her chair. Her head thudded hard against the ground. “Ouch, sorry Twilight,” Rainbow Dash tried to cover her mistake, “We, uh, just came in and saw you sleeping there, and thought maybe you needed to get some sleep in a real bed.” Groggy, Twilight stood up and shook off the pain in her head. Rainbow smiled a toothy smile, than boldly asked, “But, uh, we were wondering if you could do us a favor?” “It really is beautiful up here,” Applejack told her, snuggling next to Rainbow Dash. The two were now perched on top of a cloud overlooking all of Ponyville. The moon and stars were closer than Applejack had ever been able to see them before. A tinge of envy hit her, that all this time she’d never been able to see a night like this with such magnificence as she could now, and yet Rainbow Dash could anytime and yet never took the time to notice. “Ya know, Applejack, I was thinking, since the magic’s good for a day or two, you want to crash at my place tonight?” Rainbow asked her. “Why Rainbow Dash, ah thought ya’d never ask,” Applejack smiled and gave a playful tug at Rainbow’s mane. They sat in silence for a bit longer, before Rainbow Dash knelt down and motioned for Applejack to climb onto her back. Wings stretched out, Rainbow Dash dropped down and soared over Ponyville, before swooping up, and landing in the front yard of her cloud home. She walked up to the door, and opened it for the orange earth pony. Applejack smiled and tipped her hat to the Pegasus. They both laughed, and headed inside. Although it was quite late, the night had only begun for the two. My Old Apple Acre Home Part 3The light of the setting sun shone through the window-like arches of Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. The orange light caused the white fluffy clouds brighten into beautiful orange plumes. It was a sight Applejack couldn’t imagine, or wouldn’t have been able to had she been awake. Their time together had lasted well into the day, and now both had slept soundly through the afternoon hours. Rainbow Dash was the first to stir, slowly opening her eyes and adjusting to the waning light. All around her was the orange light of Celestia’s setting sun. It almost reminded her of… “Fire!” she screeched and jump from her cloud bed in a panic. Her eyes wide, her heart pounding, she look all around, ready to escape. Then she turned to applejack in bed, who she half expected to have some horrible deformity like her dreams had shown her recently. Pulling back the clouds revealed her friend, her lover, sleeping very peacefully despite Dash’s outburst. Dash calmed down, and realized just what was going on around her. For the moment she plopped down on the floor and waited for her heart rate to drop. “Whew,” she sighed, “It must be getting late already. Did we really stay up that long?” Dash thought back on the past night and smirked. No matter what her friends knew about the two, she was sure neither of them would ever tell them about that night, nor the ones Dash thought were sure to follow. But she knew she hated how she had been feeling. Something was causing her to dream these awful things, and she had suddenly begun to develop very irrational fears. The voice in her head once again began to make itself known. Are you really that stupid to think you don’t know where this is all coming from? It asked her. Dash managed to stop herself from answering it out loud. Besides the fact she was becoming very afraid of scaring Applejack, she realized just how crazy it was to be to keep answering herself. She tried to ignore it. Do you think she’ll still love you when she knows the truth? She continued to feign ignorance, pacing back and forth across the darkening clouds of her home. It seemed night was already fast approaching. “You’ve said this before,” Dash snapped through her teeth. “Do you really think you’re so cool, trying to make me feel so bad, so guilty?” I don’t feel anything at all. After all, I’m just a voice…I’m just …you. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to hear this now, or ever. She glanced back and Applejack who was still sleeping soundly. Without any thought to what she was doing or where she was going, Rainbow Dash stretched her wings and rose into the air. With a quick burst she bolted through the clouds and into the cool air of the early night. And when she was far enough away from her home and from the listening ears of Ponyville, she screamed. Every fiber of her body cried out into the night, every bit of pent up hate for herself, every bit of sadness poured out into this outburst. She brought herself down from the sky and landed on the cool grass near the edge of the Everfree Forest. She dropped onto her stomach and covered her face with her hooves. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she sobbed hard into the ground. “What is wrong with me?!” she sobbed, “I feel like I’m going crazy!” She pounded the ground with one of her hooves, trying to get some hold on herself. She did not want to have to keep feeling this way. However, she was now way too afraid of losing the mare she loved to admit her wrong doings. “It wasn’t even really my fault,” she sobbed, “Why are you…why am I punishing myself so hard?” Suddenly she heard hoof-steps from somewhere behind her. Dash quickly sat up, trying to quickly clear her face. She could feel her cheeks were hot as the tears made dark spots on her cyan fur, however it was not easily noticeable in the moonlight. She turned towards the sound. “If anyone is out there, come out now! I’m not in the mood to play right now!” she tried to sound brave, but her voice noticeably cracked over a few words; she’d made herself very hoarse. More hoof-steps and a momentary rustle of the bushes put Rainbow Dash even more on edge. She was in no mood to have to fight anything or anypony. Suddenly Twilight Sparkle emerged from the forest. “Oh Twilight, it’s just you,” Dash said with the briefest sigh of relief. “Well nice to see you too,” Twilight gave with some fake snark in her voice. “Oh no, I just was hoping it wasn’t something horrible coming out of there. Do you always go to Zecora’s so late?” “I try not to since I got turned to stone by that Cockatrice that time, but Zecora sent me a message that she urgently needed a book from my library. Seems a relative from her home is very sick and she didn’t have the recipe she needed.” Dash couldn’t hide looking a little depressed, but tried her best to keep up her appearance for Twilight. “I was on my way back,” Twilight began to tell her, “And I heard horrible noises. I thought somepony screamed. I hurried back as fast as I could. Was that you, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight began to look concerned. “Geeze Twilight, you know me. I was just out enjoying the moon rising. A little night air on my wings always feels nice.” She was able to cover for herself. “And you didn’t hear anything?” Twilight asked, perplexed. “Nope, not a thing. Maybe you should get your ears checked Twilight. With all that reading, I thought sure your eyesight would go first,” Dash gave fake teasing laugh at her remark. Twilight ignored the comment and said, “Where’s Applejack? I haven’t seen you two apart in weeks.” “Still sleeping at my place,” Rainbow blushed a little, her mind drifting back to hours previous. Twilight’s eyes drifted upwards for a moment as she began to imagine things for herself. She too blushed and quickly got her head back into reality. “Heh, I hope your time was..enjoyable,” Twilight tried to say without sounding embarrassed. Rainbow was glad Twilight was trying to learn a little about relationships from them it seemed. Twilight may have been learning about friendship, but she was still completely naïve to anything dealing with love. “Well, make sure you wake her up soon. That spell I casted won’t last forever,” Twilight reminded. Suddenly a new image crept into Dash’s head. She imagined Applejack, still sleeping in the comfy cloud bed, slowly sinking through the layers, through the floor, and then plummeting to the ground below. Dash didn’t want to imagine what would happen when she hit the bottom. “Well, uh, it was nice talking with ya Twilight. I’d better be getting back,” Dash said quickly. Before Twilight could even manage a goodbye, Rainbow Dash had taken to the skies and disappeared into the night. She wasn’t sure why, but Rainbow Dash had suddenly become very fearful of heading back inside the house. Twilight’s comment on her magic had not sat well with her, and now she was afraid if she went inside Applejack wouldn’t be there. After a few minutes she decided the thoughts of her best friend falling to her doom somewhere in Ponyville weren’t helping her already fractured mental state, and went inside. She called out for Applejack, but got no answer. Dash moved quickly to the bedroom, peeking her head through the doorway. The room was empty. “Ohmygosh, no!” she cried out. She tore through the clouds that made up her floor, and began searching frantically for signs of a body, or an impact. The moonlight of Luna’s moon made the search easier, but Dash still turned up nothing. She circled the surrounding area several times. Finally, she decided to head back up to her home. She hadn’t given it a thorough check after all. Sure enough when Dash came back, Applejack was sitting on a chair in the bedroom, a tuft of her mane clutched in her mouth as she tried to fix her braids. Dash tackled her quickly to the floor. “Woah sugarcube!” Applejack was quick to say, “What’s all this?” “Oh thank Celestia, your alive!” Dash was quick to cry out, tears swelling in her eyes. “Well o’course ah am,” Applejack gave a bewildered smile. “I didn’t think anything we did was that bad.” Dash couldn’t help but laugh at Applejack’s statement. She pulled Applejack close and gave her a quick kiss. Afterwards, she let Applejack go and proceeded to explain why she’d reacted as such. “I just wanted to go for a quick fly around Ponyville, “she said, skirting around her real reasons for leaving, “and ran into Twilight. We talked for a few minutes, until she reminded me of the spell, and so I came back. You’d gotten out of bed, so my mind went a little nuts.” “Well, Ah can’t be mad ay ya fer caring,” Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder, “But don’t be overreactin’ so much. Ah can still take care o’ myself.” Applejack snuggled up to Dash, trying to comfort her. Dash felt more peaceful than she had since she’d awoken. She nudged Applejack, and before the orange earth pony knew it, she was back on Rainbow’s back and soaring down towards Ponyville. They swooped over Sugarcube Corner, and passed Rarity’s Boutique. They landed in front of Twilight’s library. “Ya know, after all that, Ah’ve been asleep way too long ta be tired,” she told Dash. “What say we give Princess Luna’s beautiful night a little more respect.” Dash couldn’t pass up a second with Applejack, so there they sat, amdist the waning lights of the Ponyville ponies, under one of the biggest moons they’d been able to see. Soon Twilight noticed the couple and came outside. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said shyly, “But a message came for you today Applejack.” Applejack opened the scroll, which the writer had obviously had some help writing. Suddenly, Applejack gasped… My Old Apple Acre Home Part 4“Eeyup,” was all Big Macintosh could manage to get in between the protests of his little sister. The night before Applejack had just received the letter from Twilight, and she’d waited until morning to confront Big Macintosh about its contents. With her sleep cycle thrown off by the time she’d recently spent with Rainbow Dash, Applejack had had plenty of time to think about what she wanted to say to him. Not much of it had actually made it out of her mouth though, as she mostly kept repeating the same concerns she had over and over, never giving Big Macintosh room to explain. “Did ya think about anypony else’s feelings?” Applejack nearly screamed at him. She’d been fairly confident when she started, but after a solid half-hour of attacking Big Macintosh, she could feel everything starting to slip. Her mind kept going between the time she’d been spent with Rainbow Dash and what she’d read the night before on the piece of parchment. Dear Applejack, It may be hard for me to say this, and I know it’ll be even harder for you to accept, but very soon I’m moving the Apple Family out of Ponyville. The mess from the fire is cleaned up, but it’ll just take too long to get a crop going again. I’ve got plans on how to make things better though. Granny Smith is getting on up in her years, and I’ve decided that she needs more than this in her last years alive. That’s why I’ve arranged for the Oranges to take her in at their home in Manehatten. They’ve already said they’d do the best they can to give her the good life before….well, I trust them well enough. I know you’ve been preoccupied lately, and I want you to be happy, so I regret not having discussed it with you. However, I’ve decided I’m taking Applebloom with me, and we’ll be heading out to Appleoosa. Braeburn has a perfect plot of land that was part of his father’s farm he’s willing to share with us. It has everything we used to have, and we’ll still have friends to help us out over there. I know Applebloom isn’t fond of leaving her friends, but she seems to think it may be for the best too. I know this won’t be easy, but I want you with me. The Apple family just isn’t the same without you, and after everything that’s happened to us, it would hurt a lot to see you leave us. Think it over, would you? With Love, Big Macintosh When Applejack had first read the note, she knew that Big Macintosh had had some help. Twilight seemed just as shocked when she read the note, so Applejack figured she hadn’t had anything to do with it. Whoever had written it had captured Big Mac’s sincerity, but had likely added a word here or there and didn’t even try to write it in the way Big Macintosh usually spoke. Not that any of that was important. She’d snuggled with Dash for a few moments, kissed her goodnight, and went inside. Twilight had remained a few minutes longer to ask Dash a question, but came in not long afterwards.. Applejack could tell that having Rainbow Dash leave had caused her some hurt, but she needed the time to herself, and she had to unfortunately assume that with Dash around, she’d have a more biased opinion of the matter, rather than thinking over a well thought out decision.Regardless, Applejack had met Big Macintosh in Fluttershy’s garden, and tore into him immediately. “Do ya think Granny Smith really wants to leave?” she asked him sternly, “Do ya think Applebloom really wants to go farm in Appleoosa?” Finally Big Macintosh cut in, “Can ya really blame me? Ah haven’t seen ya in days Applejack! Ah’m sure I could guess where ya’ve been, but the point is, it ain’t helpin’ none of us.” Applejack couldn’t believe she had heard what sounded like such an insensitive thing from her big brother. “Tell me Applejack, how many bits have ya’ll got now?” he asked “Um, ah’ve got about forty bits,” she told him confidently. “And ah’ve got about two hundred bits,” he told her, “But ah had more. We still gotta eat, and I a’int gonna let us take anymore from Ms. Fluttershy than we are already are havin’ ta. Not ta mention the things Applebloom keeps getting’ into at Rarity’s.” “The ponies ‘round Ponyville know us, Macintosh! Ya’ll know they never overcharge us!” “But it ain’t gonna last sweetie,” he said sternly, “And ya need to take off whatever’s been blindin’ your eyes and take a look into the real world for a second.” “The real world? Ah live in the real world, Macintosh! I haven’t found anything more real than what ah’ve got right now! Ah know what’s real!” “All ah’m hearing is yer silly filly romance getting’ into yer head. No matter how much ya love somepony, foolin’ with them everyday all day ain’t makin’ us any richer.” Macintosh didn’t really mean to sound so harsh, but the words still managed to cut deep. `Applejack couldn’t reply. She could not believe the things she wa shearing out of her brother’s mouth. And she realized that she really couldn’t say anything else. “Ah got things ta take care of here still, we’re leavin’ in two weeks. If ya’ll gonna come, let me know. I’m sorry it’s got ta be like this, but it’s what’s best fer the Apple family.” Big Macintosh turned away from Applejack, not giving her any indication that it had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to say in his life. He knew what she was doing now, but he didn’t want to see her tears dripping down her into her orange fur. He didn’t want to see that hurt expression again. He’d seen it in the past, when she was still a filly, and seeing it never got any easier. Big AMcintosh nudged open the Fluttershy’s door, and gave it a small kick to close it, leaving Applejack standing in the garden, alone. Rainbow Dash was alone, somewhere dark. She couldn’t see anything around her. Suddenly, 6 lights shone down around her. Inside each circle of light was a different colored Pegasus pony; red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple. They each had different expressions on their faces: the red one looked angry; the blue, sad; the green pony looked scared. The yellow one looked happy, while the orange one looked confident, and finally the purple one looked simply calm. Even for a pony that admitted she didn’t understand a lot of things like Rainbow Dash, she easily understood that each pony was a color of her mane, and each one represented a certain personality trait. “I’ve seen this thing in the comic books Twilight keeps in her library a hundred times,” Dash said confidently. “It’s not going to scare me!” As she spoke the words, the orange pony mouthed her words exactly. It managed to unsettle Dash, but only briefly. “Do you like them?” a voice came from the dark, a very familiar voice. “Wha-who are you?” Dash tried to remain calm, her eyes darting past the other ponies, searching the blackness for a sign of somepony else. This time, the green Pegasus began the sentence, but was finished again by the orange pony. “Aren’t the wonderful? And the best part is, I can always tell through them just how you’re really feeling. You’re so easy to read though Rainbow Dash,” the voice continued, “I don’t think I really need them.” “Come out, show me if you really have the guts!” Rainbow Dash yelled into the darkness, the red pony mouthing her words this time. Without warning, Rainbow Dash was suddenly face to face with herself, only it wasn’t exactly herself. The pony was black, completely, with brown eyes. Her mane was only two colors: the center being a charcoal grey, with a red stripe running down each side. “So nice to see you like this, Rainbow Dash,” the black pony said, her voice not decidedly feminine, but not the voice of a colt either. “”Y-y-y-You…you can’t be real,” Rainbow stammered, trying to collect her thoughts. The green pony mouthed the words. “Ah, but you believe I am. That is why you listen to me. That is why you argue with me,” the black pony replied. “I hate that feeling of being watched, don’t you?” The black pony swished her mane, and the colored ponies faded away. The lights flickered out, leaving a single beam that illuminated Dash and what she began to think of as her inner demon. “Much better,” the demon said, “Now…it's time we had a talk. Do you think I like hurting you Rainbow Dash? Do you think I like seeing those salty tears stain that beautiful coat of your night after night? Do you think I like watching you tear yourself apart over the problems you caused?” Dash was confused. She was sure she hadn’t had many times that everything had gotten to her. She remembered the recent night when she had left Applejack in her house. She remembered the horrible dreams she’d had…but had there been more? Was she blocking out other things, only remembering what she absolutely had to? Rainbow Dash suddenly realized her mind could possibly be her worst enemy. “I don’t care what you think,” Dash tried to keep her cool. “Why should I? I’ve told you, or I’ve told myself, a hundred times all I need are my friends. Especially Applejack! No matter what, they will understand me!” “Suit yourself, you stupid little filly,” the demon told her, “But I’ll always be there, waiting. And when it all comes crashing down on you, I’ll have no reason to stay, but I'll laugh the whole way out. And you’ll be left, knowing I was right all along.” And with that, the black Pegasus disappeared into the darkness, shattering the beam of light, and casting Rainbow Dash into an eternal darkness. Rainbow Dash bolted up from her bed. Once again it had been a dream, a horrible dream she that had once again felt so real. She half expected to hear the voice of her inner demon to creep into her mind to hurt her more, but after a few moments she felt relieved that she heard nothing. She climbed out of her cloud bed and stretched her wings. Despite how unsettled she felt, she could feel that something was missing. She knew it was Applejack. By the time Dash had flown down to Ponyville, the argument between Applejack and Big Macintosh had already taken place. High in the sky, she scanned the surroundings, trying to think of where she might have gone. It wasn’t long before she saw the orange pony trotting slowly home, with a look of extreme sadness on her face. Rainbow hovered for a few moments, suddenly wondering if Applejack even wanted to see anypony right now. She watched her all the way back to the library, then Dash descended slowly. When she was on the ground, she walked nervously up to the door. She got ready to knock, but since Twilight allowed anypony into the library, Dash decided to just come on in. Twilight noticed her as she slipped in. “Rainbow Dash! You look well rested now,” she said cheerfully, “Did you have a good night?” “Yeah, sure,” she told her quickly, “Did Applejack come back yet?” “I think she slipped in a minute ago, but I was face first into a great book on just how many uses carrots have,” she told Dash, levitating a yellow book with a big carrot on the cover towards her. “That’s uh, great Twilight,” she tried to sound interested, “But I think I really need to go talk to Applejack.” Twilight nodded, and Dash headed to the back. She nudged open Applejack’s door, and found a scene that seemed very similar to her. She pushed the door closed with her hoof, and cautiously walked around the side of the bed. Applejack briefly looked up at her. “Oh, hey sugarcube,” she smiled weakly. Not a good sign, Dash thought to herself. Dash climbed up onto the bed and dropped down beside Applejack. Rainbow opened her right wing and wrapped it around Applejack, pulling her close. Applejack could feel the heat of Rainbow Dash’s body against her coat. It made her feel…calmer. “Tell me what happened,” Dash looked concerned as she spoke. “Ah will,” she told her, her eyes shut tightly as tears began to leak down her cheeks. “Just hold me, fer a while, will ya Rainbow?” Rainbow smiled and wrapped her fore-hoof around Applejack’s neck. Adding to Rainbow’s almost déjà vu-like feeling of how things were playing out around her, the two sat in silence for over an hour. Every so often Applejack would cry just a little and try to pull herself back together. Finally, she decided she felt like talking. “Why is it, when ah’m feelin’ my happiest, soemthin’ always has to try and come in between me an that?” Applejack asked Dash through a few stray tears. Dash felt them drip onto the back of her mane, but she didn’t mind. She sat and thought about the question for a moment. “I don’t think anything is trying to hurt you AJ. Its just the world. No matter how great it can be, it can always be bad. I’ve had my fair share of problems in life. Don’t get me started on flight school.” Applejack chuckled a little, “Alright sugarcube, enough tears from me. I know this ain’t helpin’ you none.” With that, Applejack wiped away the last of her tears and began her story, starting with what the letter had said. She told everything, from her night alone, to the argument with Big Macintosh. Rainbow Dash held on to every word, taking in every emotion and trying to as supportive as she could. When it was all finished, Rainbow could only stare in disbelief. “Big Macintosh really said all those things?” Rainbow asked her. “Yeah…and ya know, Ah don’t exactly blame ‘em. It hurts somethin’ awful, but between me bein’ depressed and bein’ in love, ah haven’t done much to help out the family.” She sighed and looked down at the floor. “Are…are you saying you don’t want to be in love,” Dash suddenly had a horrible feeling inside herself. “O’course not,” she quickly looked back up to Dash, “All Ah’m saying is that maybe ah should’ve realized that the family was probably in just as bad a state as me, and while you were there fer me, I wasn’t there for anypony else.” Dash tried to give a small smile, but thinking that Applejack might have been wishing they’d spent less time together still made her heart hurt incredibly bad. “Oh,” Dash said sounding somewhat distant, “that makes sense.” Applejack put her hooves to Dash’s face, and looked into her wide eyes. “Nothing can ever make me want you less,” she put her face closer. Dash’s heart fluttered, suddenly feeling much better, and yet, something inside of her suddenly made her feel even worse. She had an idea of what that something was, but she tried to ignore it. Without anymore words, Dash put her lips to Applejack’s, and embraced her in the most passionate kiss she had ever given anyone. After a few moments, Rainbow pulled away and just stared into Applejack’s glowing face. She couldn’t imagine a more beautiful pony, and nor anypony else she’d rather spend the rest of her life with. Then suddenly, Rainbow Dash got an idea. My Old Apple Acre Home Part 5The sun rose like it had every morning over Sweet Apple Acres. However, Celestia’s sun just didn’t have the same effect as it had when the beautiful orchard still remained. Five ponies were had been awaiting the sun to come up, and were now sitting below one of the remaining apple trees. It was quite obvious they’d sacrificed a few more hours of sleep for something. “Oh, I’m going to get rings under my eyes if I don’t get my proper amount of sleep,” Rarity whined, but no one seemed to mind. “And then I’ll look just dreadful!” Fluttershy had made a special visit to a sick family of swans that lived in a pond in Ponyville. She’d spent nearly all night mixing up her special medicinal blends for them, and now she couldn’t help but pass in the dirt. The others were surprised by how loudly she was snoring. Twilight had cast an energy spell on herself, and she seemed to be feeling fine, but she knew that once it wore off she’d crash faster than a one-winged Pegasus trying to make a sonic rainboom. Pinkie Pie was her usually bubbly self even at this time of the morning. Applejack sat just a little ways away from the rest of them. She hadn’t managed any sleep at all. She knew she shouldn’t be worried, but she was still letting things get to her. Two days ago, Rainbow Dash had concocted some sort of plan, and seemed very sure that whatever it was would work. The next day she stayed most of the day with Applejack, but shortly after the moon had begun to creep into the sky, Dash had told her she’d be leaving for the night, but for her and the other four ponies to meet her at Sweet Apple Acres at sunrise. And so here they all were, and yet, no Rainbow Dash. “Are you sure Dash said to meet us here?” Twilight asked, not trying to sound like she was complaining. “Yeah, she did. Ah wonder where that pony ran off ta,” Applejack tried to hide the concerned tone in her voice. “I just hope it’s a super duper surprise Dashie has planned!” Pinkie gleefully said, grinning ear to ear. “Pinkie, darling, how ever are you so chipper this early in the morning?” Rarity asked. “Well gosh, I don’t really know. I’d probably be worried if I wasn’t,” Pinkie answered. And so another twenty minutes passed, and Dash still did not show up. The others who were awake noticed the growing look sadness on Applejack’s face. “I’m sure everything is fine,” Twilight trotted over to her, “Dash is the Element of Loyalty after all. She’ll come through with whatever she’s doing.” Applejack tried to smile, but said nothing. She stared up into the sky as the golden streaks began to cascade across the sky. It reminded of when this was home. She wished she could be seeing the beautiful morning from the windows of her old home. Applejack however shook away the saddening thoughts, and tried to appreciate the sunrise all the same…and that is when she noticed the one tiny cloud in the sky. She could see the tip of a cyan wing hanging off the side of it. “Well Ah’ll be…”Applejack said through clenched her teeth. Applejack walked back over to the apple tree, and bucked a single apple from its branches. She lightly picked it up with her mouth and trotted back to where the little cloud was. She tossed the apple over her head and bucked it into the sky. The apple sailed through the little cloud, and collided with Rainbow Dash’s head. She let out a cry and tumbled off the cloud and down to the ground. She landed with a large thud. “Ow Applejack, what was that…oh…its morning,” she quickly realized. “Ya’ll had me worried all night, thinking you might be gettin’ inta trouble, and here ya are, sleeping in while we all came to see what the big idea ya had was,” Applejack scolded her. “I was out all night, doing just that AJ,” she put her head down and tried to look sincere, “But it got really late and I finally had what I needed, so I decided to wait here. And I fell asleep.” Applejack narrowed her eyes and Rainbow Dash backed hesitantly away. “…Alright sugarcube, I believe ya,” Applejack told her, pulling her close into warm embrace, and giving her an almost sloppy kiss, which made Rarity a little uneasy. When it was over, Rainbow turned to the other ponies and said, “Sorry girls, I uh, didn’t mean to make you wait. But I had this great idea, and I knew it just had to happen.” Dash reached into the saddlebags she was wearing, and began pulling out various papers and such. Soon she had them spread all over the ground. “Everyone, for the first great, awesome idea by Rainbow Dash, I give you Sweet Apple Acres 2!” Dash announced, rolling out the parchment showing various drawings of different things. Some of it was very crudely drawn, but Pegasus and Earth ponies were not well known for their abilities to draw or write. “2?” twilight said skeptically. “It’s a work in progress,” Rainbow said, a big smile on her face. Applejack however, hadn’t reacted yet. She looked over all the papers, gathering her thoughts. “Look,” Dash said to her, seeing her mixed emotions, “None of us want you to leave, especially me most of all. And, that’s why I asked everypony here. It will take some time, but I was us to build this. I want this to be our home AJ.” Applejack gave her a smile, and Dash could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “Oh Rainbow, this reall is amazin’!” Applejack told her, and nuzzled against her rainbow mane. “I had it all planned out,” Dash began to tell them, “Twilight, you’re book smart, so I figured you could make up the real blueprints to build the house and the barn.” “I’d be honored to help,” Twilight told them happily. “Rarity,” Dash turned to the white Unicorn, “I tried to draw some ideas, but I’d really like you to be in charge of painting and decorating.” Rarity began looking over the designs for a moment, then looked to Dash and said, “These are good…but they could stand to be about 20% cooler.” Dash was taken aback by Rarity’s humor for a moment, but she laughed all the same and continued on. “Fluttershy,” she said to the sleeping Pegasus, “Well, I’ll repeat this later. But we’ll need wood, and we’ll probably have to get some from the forest. You’ll be in charge of making sure we don’t hurt any animals. And Pinkie Pie, you’ll be in charge of minor farming duties. We want to get this orchard growing again, so someone has to plant the seeds!” Pinkie put her hoof up in salute, and gave another large grin. “And last, AJ and I will gather the wood. Applejack is the strongest pony I know, and I can rainboom an area of trees to get them down in no time.” No one seemed to have any problems with Dash’s idea. However, seeing as Dash hadn’t gotten any of the supplies ready, they decided to begin at a slightly later time the next day. That night, Twilight made a special dinner for Applejack and Rainbow Dash, using her best romantic magic to set the mood for the two. When everything was perfect, Twilight quickly ducked out of the library, and went to spend some time with Rarity. The dinner itself was only known of by Rainbow Dash, another surprise she had planned for Applejack. Dash lead her lover into the main area, which was now dimly lit by two flickering white candles. The candles were setting upon Twilight’s table, which was covered food. Various apple-themed treats sat on one side, while hay sandwiches, fruit and vegetable salad, and corn on the cob sat on the other side. Applejack’s mouth began to water as all the smells assaulted her senses. Her stomach rumbled as she tried to control her cravings. Applejack wasn’t the most formal pony, even in times of romance. Dash pulled her chair out and allowed Applejack to sit down, and then Dash took her seat across the table from her. “Ya really didn’t have ta set all this up Rainbow,” Applejack said, eyeing the Apple Fritters. “You know Ah love our simple dinners together.” “Yeah, but this is nice too, right?” Dash said, suddenly afraid she’d made a mistake and had Twilight make the dinner too fancy. “O’course it is, sugarcube,” Applejack said thoughtfully. As dinner went on the two talked over various subjects. Dash suddenly began to feel very tired, the hours of sleep she had failed to get the night before had begun to catch up. While she tried her best to listen to Applejack, she found herself staring intently into the candles on the table. The orange flames danced and flickered in her gaze. For a moment, she swore she could see them make the images she’d seen in her dreams. Suddenly, one of the candles sparked. The tiny flame produced bounced off the table and landed on an open book in the corner. The pages slowly began to singe, and soon the book was engulfed. The flames began to quickly spread to the other tomes of the library. “Applejack!” Dash cried out as the orange pony seemed to be completely oblivious to the danger around them. Dash tried to move from her spot and grab Applejack, but she suddenly felt frozen in place. Her eyes darted every which way, as the flames crackled and popped, and continued to engulf every page of every book in Twilight’s library. Applejack continued to talk, seemingly unaware of the danger that was rapidly approaching them. “Applejack, please, look around you!” Rainbow Dash cried out, flapping her wings and trying to make her hooves move from their spot. Gravity seemed as if it had turned against Rainbow Dash however, and she stayed fixed in place. The flames were now right behind Applejack, twisting and turning until they formed the face of a large demonic entity. It laughed and laughed at Dash’s misfortune as it got ever closer to Applejack. Dash could smell the scent of hair burning as it first caught Applejack’s mane. With a sudden rush, the flames pushed forward and burned Applejack from Equestria, forever. “Rainbow!” a voice cried out as the cyan Pegasus shot up. She could feel something wet on her face that was quickly becoming caked into her fur. “Uhhhh,” she strained to figure out what was going on. She quickly looked around, her eyes adjusting to the low light that was illuminating the room. She was still in Twilight’s library, and still having the nice dinner she’d planned, but with a very unhappy-looking earth pony across from her. “Rainbow Dash, did ya not get back ta sleep when we came back this mornin’?” Applejack asked her. “If ya needed the sleep hun, ya’ll didn’t have to have this dinner for me.” After a few seconds, Dash realized that she’d been having another one of the horrible dreams that had plagued her sleep lately. However, this time she’d been so tired she had passed out in the middle of dinner. The wetness she was feeling had come from the sauce on her food, which she’d passed out into. “Sorry AJ,” she lowered her head as she spoke. “It's alright sugarcube, but maybe we should go ahead and clean up and hit the hay…after you get a bath though,” Applejack smiled to her. “Yeah,” Dash said, trying to sound better. Dash was still bothered by the dream. They were becoming more and more frequent, and her waking mind made it all the more apparent that something was wrong. “You know what’s wrong with you,” the voice of herself in her head suddenly sprang in and said. “Why don’t you just admit it Rainbow Dash, the truth about Applejack’s home. Things’ll get better. You can trust me on that…you can trust yourself, can’t you?” Dash didn’t know the answer to that question, but she decided to try and block it out. It was bad enough she was hearing voices to begin with, but if Applejack had any idea, Dash couldn’t imagine what she might say or think. She did her best to shake it away, and got up to help Applejack clean up the dishes from their meal. “I’m sorry this didn’t go like I wanted,” Dash tried to apologize. “Ya tried, and that’s all that matter,” Applejack said with a smile, “Besides, these fancy smancy things aren’t what the Rainbow Dash Ah know is known for. And that’s fine by me.” After a long night’s sleep, at the first sign of Celestia’s sun, Dash woke up feeling much better. She looked over at Applejack, still sleeping soundly on the bed. Dash climbed out with a grand feeling of excitement filling her whole body. Today would begin the rest of her life with Applejack. Everything she had ever dreamed of might finally be realized. A life together with the pony she loved…. And suddenly it hit her, for the first time in several weeks. She was happy her dreams were being realized, but at the cost of everything Applejack had. Thoughts began to fill Rainbow’s head as she dropped down on her flank near the door. She didn’t hear the voice, cutting her deep with its words, trying to toy with her emotions. She didn’t need to hear it either, as what it had said came to light as a sickening truth for Rainbow Dash: the voice was her own, a manifestation of her guilt. Her guilt was something she’d been ignoring for a very long time now. However, Dash knew she couldn’t talk to Applejack. Not now especially, with everything going so perfectly. “Stupid mare,” she said to herself, “Way to be really bucking selfish.” And yet, seeing her best friend, the mare she loved still sleeping in her bed, made her feel suddenly better and a million times worse all at the same time. Dash decided that for now, she would try to find other ways to deal with her guilt…she was not sure if anything would help her though. She tried to shake off the feelings and headed out into the library. Twilight Sparkle was already up and arranging some new books on the shelves. “Morning Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said happily, “Ready to get your plan into action? I’ve got some designs all drawn up for you to-“ she was cut off. “Twilight…” Rainbow hesitated, gathering her thoughts. She hadn’t expected that she’d want to talk with anypony, but suddenly she felt like she needed to. “Can we talk…” My Old Apple Acre Home Part 6That morning, things had already started off better than the previous one, with everypony arriving on time, well rested, and, especially in Rarity’s case, ready to work. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood before the other ponies as they got ready for each of their tasks. “Alright,” Twilight said, laying her schematics out to show a much more refined set of designs than what Rainbow had drawn up earlier. “Fluttershy has already gone off to begin rounding up the animals. Rarity, I assume you’ll be planning the décor around my designs?” “Why of course,” Rarity said and pulled a rolle dup blanket from the saddle bag she was carrying it. Rarity laid out the blanket and dropped down onto the ground next to the plans, and began studying them intently. “It’s a good thing you know how to keep everyone organized,” Rainbow said with grin. “Yeah, I think things will go quite smoothly,” Twilight replied, and looked back at her documents. “Pinkie Pie, did you get the seeds for the trees?” “You bet!” Pinkie cried with glee, “and I convinced Caramel to give me a hand with the plowing. We’ll be done and ready to plant in no time!” The brown earth pony trotted up slowly from behind one of the apple trees that were still standing and sat next to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie wrapped her hooves around his neck and pulled him close, a squeel of glee escaping her. Caramel could only blush. Before Twilight could continue, the sound of hooves clopping up the path to the farm could be heard. The group waited in silence to see who it was; a big cloud of dust shrouded whomever was coming closer. Before long the cloud stopped just a few feet from them. “What’s this now?” Rarity asked as the dust began to settle. Standing before them was the tall red form of Big Macintosh. At his hooves were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who looked to be at the ready for whatever was asked of them. “Big Macintosh?” Applejack said surprised. “What’re ya’ll doin’ here?” “Well, Ah couldn’t help but think about all that was said between us the other day. And maybe Ah am a little bit wrong,” he lowered his head and looked away. The regret in his eyes was apparent. “So what’re ya tryin’ to say?” Applejack asked. Instead of outright answering her, Big Macintosh looked at Rainbow Dash and said, “Ah was a bit skeptical about ya’ll, Eeyup. Ah admit I’m not always the most open-minded pony. But seein’ this dedication to each other, well, Ah’m impressed. And maybe Ah’m not the one workin’ hard enough.” Scootaloo broke in, “What Big Mac won’t wrap up here is that we’re all gonna help so you can stay in Ponyville! Besides, it’s another opportunity to for us to get our cutie marks!” And so we don’t have to break up the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” “But how’d you guys know about my idea?” Rainbow Dash asked, a smile extending wide across her face. Fluttershy poked her head from the trees, and softly said, “Well…I might have had something to do with it.” Fluttershy blushed and quickly went back to rounding up the animals. Mac continued on to Rainbow for another moment, “Miss Dash, Ah’ve got a lotta faith in ya’ll, so don’t let me down. And a’specially don’t let mah sister down.” Rainbow Dash tried to put a cool look on her face, and nodded at Big Macintosh. Big Mac turned to Twilight, “So, what’re ya needed us to do Miss Twilight?” Twilight Sparkle was not very good at keeping secrets. Twilight was working extra hard to keep up with everypony else as they all went diligently about their work. Twilight knew if she didn’t then her mind would again return to everything from that morning. Once Applejack had woken up, Rainbow and her had headed out, leaving Twilight to think on everything. Knowing what her friends secrets sometimes did to her mind, she casted a spell on herself to help her focus on the day ahead. But even with this aura of determination, she still couldn’t help but dwell on her conversation with Rainbow Dash. “Lay those trunks over here!” Twilight ordered a lot more sternly than she meant. Big Macintosh pulled two large trees tied up with rope from their work area and dropped them next to Twilight. He galloped back ready for the next ones. Applejack was lassoing three trees at a time, and together, her and Rainbow Dash were pulling them out of the ground. Seeing Dash stay in one place when in a state of sonic speed was quite a sight for Twilight. However, her amazement for Dash's abilities could only go so far at the moment. She really couldn’t imagine how calm Dash seemed. Twilight knew in her own position she could never keep up such a calm and friendly demeanor around anyone she may have harmed. Dash seemed to be able to do it with no problem. Twilight now knew the torment going on inside Rainbow’s mind though, and couldn’t imagine what it must really be doing to her mental state. Before long, Twilight realized her focus spell had not been strong enough, and began to drift into her thoughts. “Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said unusually softly as she came out of Applejack’s room, “Can we talk?” “Of course Rainbow Dash! I’m always ready to help a friend in need, and maybe it’ll help with a new letter to the Princess.” “No!” Dash snapped. “Sorry about that Twilight, but…no one can know about this.” At that point Twilight was sure she should stop Rainbow Dash there. She knew whenever words like those came up, whatever was coming would eat away at her until she had to tell somepony else. But she also saw her friend standing in front of her, obviously with something weighing very heavily upon her mind. “Alright Rainbow Dash, it’ll be our secret. Now, what do you need to talk about?” From that point it took a long while before Twilight could get another word in. Dash started with that morning at Sweet Apple Acres, and how perfect everything had been. She told her about her long time feelings for Applejack, and how she couldn’t stand to see the colts that hit on her at the Apple stand. At these comments Twilight seemed to be very understanding, and couldn’t begin to understand why these would upset the cyan Pegasus. The story soon turned to the recent events that had changed Applejack’s life. She heard of the stern weather team pony and his ditzy worker, and the accident she’d created. She listened with a look of seriousness on her face when Dash told her about the reaction she had had to the colt Applejack was talking to. Although she let Dash continue talking, Twilight was, by that point, sure she knew where the story was going. She remembered talking with Dash that morning, and Rarity’s sudden entrance. At that point Dash’s story had ended, but the rest of the events continued to play out in her mind. Twilight remembered the flames leaping across the trees as the ponies stood by and watched in horror. She remembered watching Dash create the trail of rain for Applejack to rescue Winona. And Twilight couldn’t forget the expression on Applejack’s face as she came back to her friends, her fur soaked as from the rain that poured between two sides of flames. Dash set there for a moment as Twilight continued to gather her thoughts. “Uh…Twilight,” she said, sure her friend was preparing to blow up on her. Twilight sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before speaking, “Rainbow…I am not sure where to begin. I mean, this is much bigger than I could imagine. If you hadn’t come to me I never would have known. You just seem to be good old Rainbow Dash so easily to everyone.” “Twilight…” Dash said, tearing forming in her eyes, “You have no idea how hard it is. I can’t even stand myself lately! Something keeps…” Dash stopped for a moment, realizing she didn’t want Twilight to think she was crazy, “I keep telling myself I need to say something. It’s on my mind all the time. But will she hate me Twilight? I can’t lose her, not now!” Dash began to sob, the tears splashing silently onto the library floor. Twilight came closer to Dash and pulled her close with her hoof. “I won’t say anything Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, patting her back as she continued to cry. “You have to work this out though, somehow. You’re going to make yourself crazy if you don’t. I can tell you’re doing everything else to fix your mistakes. Sweet Apple Acres…er, 2 is proof enough of that.” Dash pulled away and tried to wipe the tears on her cheeks away with her forehoof. She started to give a smile when they heard the Applejack’s door begin to creak open. Applejack emerged with a yawn, and rubbed her eyes with a hoof. The first thing she saw was Rainbow Dash, tears still in her puffy reddened eyes. “What-what’s all this?” Applejack asked. “What’s a’matter Rainbow?” “No-nothing,” Rainbow said quickly, “Just I got to talking with Twilight about Sweet Apple Acres, and everything, and about how happy you had been, and, well, it just made me so happy, thinking about you being so happy.” Applejack came up and put a hoof around Rainbow, pulling her close and giving her a kiss on her cheek. “it’s alright sugarcube,” she said sweetly, “Lets get this thing going. We can all be happy when everythin’ is finished.” Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash back to the room to get some things together for the day ahead, leaving Twilight alone with a terrible feeling growing deep inside her. Everyone had began to leave for the day as the sun began to set over the site of Sweet Apple acres. Rainbow Dash and Applejack sat for a while watching the ponies begin to leave. Dash lifted herself into the air the orange earth pony. “You ready to go back, AJ? I’m beat.” “Go on ahead,” Applejack said grinning, “Ah think ah’m gonna stay here a little longer.” “You sure?” Rainbow asked her. “Ya go on and hit the hay. Ah’ll be there soon,” Dash nodded and streaked off across the sky heading for the library. Applejack continued to watch the sunset. She thought about the good times she’d once had amongst the trees. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice Big Macintosh trot up and sit beside her. “Even like this, Ah can still find some beauty in this place,” Big Mac said. Applejack snapped out of her daze, and looked up at him. “Ah know. Ah’m really happy you decided ta stay with us. It wouldn’ ta been the same without ya.” “Ah wasn’t thinkin’ too clearly,” he said, “And Ah want ta see all this finished as soon as possible. Not fer me, fer Granny Smith. She’s not doin’ well Applejack. She don’t lead on about it, but she’s not well. Ah want her to see this place lookin’ good again, just like when Pappy Smith built it fer her…and when Ma and Pa owned it.” “Ya know Big Mac, Rainbow would never know about it, but I cry almost every night. Not cause’a her, but even when she manages to make me the happiest pony in the world, I still end up thinkin’ about everything we lost in the fire. We lost every piece we had of Ma and Pa.” “Ah didn’t,” Big Mac gave a small smirk, “Ah got you an Applebloom, and that’s all I could ask fer.” Applejack leaned against her big brother as the sun began to creep below the horizon. The first stars were starting to twinkle in the twilight sky. “Yer the best Big Macintosh,” Applejack gave him a nudge which caused the pony to topple over. Big Macintosh and Applejack both started laughing. They laughed harder together than they had since they were little ponies. Rainbow Dash arrived exhausted to the library. The lights had all been turned on, so she knew Twilight was already home. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to face Twilight now, after everything she’d said this morning. Unfortunately, Dash was too tired to stand outside all night, and didn’t want to abandon Applejack for a night in her cloud home. Dash decided to just walk on in, and pushed the door without a second thought. The first thing she saw was the purple flank of Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow blushed. She didn't want Twilight thinking she had thing for her too. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, you’re back,” Twilight turned around and said, trying to not say anything upsetting. “Hey Twilight…” Dash trailed off. “Is…did you…want to talk?” Twilight asked her. “You know…it actually felt pretty good to cry for a minute,” Dash admitted, “but that’s not what us cool people do!” Dash realized that after all the crying she’d seen Applejack do, that statement made her sound like a jerk. “Sometimes it help Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said to her, “If everything is still on your mind, maybe you should do it more often.” “Yeah…” Dash said, and started trotting to the room. Dash shut the door behind, leaving Twilight alone again. Some time went before she saw the cyan Pegasus. Dash flung the door open and ran over to where Twilight was now stacking books. Tears clung to both sides of her face. “Oh Celestia, I can’t help it!” Dash sobbed, “I am so worried about what I should do. I can’t hide it like this forever!” With that, Twilight sat down on the floor next to Rainbow Dash, and once again let her cry into her mane. Applejack arrived at the library as the moon was rising into the sky. She had to admit in the short time she’d been able to see them, when Luna raised the moon there was just something a bit more special than when Celestia had been doing all the work. Applejack felt great, and couldn’t wait to snuggle into bed next to Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure what Twilight would be doing, so she nudged the door open lightly to not cause much noise. She saw Twilight through the cracked door, sitting near her table, alone…except that she wasn’t alone. Applejack saw the rainbow mane hanging off Twilight’s shoulder, Dash’s face buried into Twilight’s own mane. Applejack couldn’t tell what was going on, or why Dash was so close to Twilight. She waited a moment, watching Twilight put her own head down and give a small nuzzle to Rainbow Dash. Applejack dropped her head low, and slowly backed away into the night. My Old Apple Acre Home Part 7When Rainbow Dash awoke the next morning, Applejack was nowhere to be found. After her time with Twilight she had come back into AJ’s room, and crashed onto the fluffy mattress. It had felt to her that her emotional outpouring had been as exhausting as the physical work she had done all day, so if Applejack had come in Rainbow likely wouldn’t have noticed. Rainbow Dash noticed that she was sprawled nearly the same way she had been when she’d fallen asleep, so she guessed Applejack hadn’t. “Where would she be?” Rainbow asked herself. She pulled herself out of bed, her body aching from the strain she had put on it the day before. Manual labor wasn’t exactly Rainbow Dash’s thing. She tried to shake off the pain, as she knew they had another day ahead. “Maybe Applejack is already out getting ready,” Dash said to herself again, and headed into the library area. Twilight was nowhere to be seen, so Dash guessed she’d left as well, maybe with Applejack . Walking by a mirror on the wall, Dash noticed her mane in complete disarray. She slicked it down quickly and tried to make herself look a little nicer. Her personal appearance had never been at the forefront of Dash’s priorities, but she decided that it wouldn’t hurt to look a little nicer from time to time. She doubted Applejack cared though, and didn’t spend more than a moment on herself. She headed outside, stepping into the cool morning air as the sun began to reach over the horizon. She stretched her wings, popping the bones and straightening the feather. With a single flap she levitated herself into the air. She hoped Applejack was out at the orchard waiting on her. With the exception of the night she’d gotten Big Macintosh’s letter, they hadn’t had a night apart in quite a while. Now above the library, Dash could see her other friends headed for the orchard as well. Rarity could be seen with saddlebags bulging with designs for the décor. Sweetie Belle walked a little bit behind her, trying to get her Crusader cape tied on just right. Fluttershy was distributing bird seed for all the early morning birds on her way there. Big Macintosh and Applebloom weren’t far behind. Suddenly, a voice called up to her. “Hey Rainbow Dash!” It was Scootaloo who had called her. “Are you headed out now?” Dash could barely see the little Pegasus from the height she was at, so she swooped down and landed next to her. “Yeah, I guess I am. You haven’t see Applejack have you?” Dash asked. “Uh, nope not yet. But I can’t wait to see more of your awesome moves today! Maybe you can do a sonic rain-“ but Scootaloo was cut off as Dash soared back into the air and flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres. “Hey, wait up Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried out, and took off on her scooter after the cyan Pegasus. Dash arrived just after most of her friends had. Fluttershy had already headed into the rows of trees, trying her best to get the animals woken and moved before the hard work began. Twilight had come early to start organizing the second phase of the building process. Pinkie and Caramel still ha d a lot of plowing and planting to do, and Rarity had a lot of designs to go over to decide what would work most perfectly for the new farmhouse. Twilight called Dash over for a moment. “Ok Rainbow Dash, things are going to work pretty much like yesterday. I’ve put the fillies on seed duty, to start planting while Pinkie and Caramel finish up the plowing. If I can pull her away from her drawings for a moment, Rarity and I will will begin dividing up the wood we already have with our magic. Everything else should work just like yesterday.” Before she had finished, Twilight could already see something was wrong in Dash’s eyes. “What’s wrong?” Twilight tried to be quiet as she asked. “Did something happen?” “No..I’m not sure,” Dash told her, “I’m pretty sure AJ never came back last night. I haven’t seen her all morning.” Twilight broke a smile, and said, “Oh, don’t be silly. Applejack is here. She was already up and in the library when I woke up. We came here together, and talked a little.” Twilight saw Dash become nervous, and quickly added, “Oh, but we didn’t talk about that stuff.” Twilight didn’t add how hard it had been not to. Just looking at Applejack reminded her of everything Rainbow had told her, and she knew something deep inside her just wanted to burst through and spill everything. Pinkie Pie’s warning of FOREVERRRRRR rang in her head over and over, and she managed to keep herself contained. “Well, uh, where is she?” Dash asked, a slight wave of excitement hitting her. “Over there,” Twilight pointed her hoof to the small grove of apple trees. Applejack was sitting with her hooves folded under her body, with her head up but her eyes closed. She looked so peaceful under the bright morning sky. The dew dripping from the trees bathed her in an aura of cool morning light. Dash glided over to her slowly. “Hey AJ, everything ok?” “Okay? Why…yeah…Ah guess,” Applejack tried her best to say. Consarnit, Applejack thought to herself. Stupid element of honesty. “You guess?” Dash looked a tad puzzled, “That’s not exactly a no either AJ.” “It don’t matter what it is RD,” Applejack snapped at her “Ah’ll be ok no matter what.” Dash backed off. She wasn’t sure what was wrong, but she decided to let Applejack cool down and she’d get the story out of her later. Dash could tell Applejack had tried her best to lie, but Rainbow Dash also knew Applejack was terrible at it. “But why did she have to try to lie to me?” she asked herself quietly so no one else would here. The day passed just as the previous one had. Big Macintosh helped with all of the heavy lifting, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash brought the trees down. Applejack seemed to be using a great deal more power, which Dash could only assume was her relieving whatever kind of anger she was experiencing. Rainbow Dash continually found herself distracted by her thoughts on this, and was reprimanded several times by AJ and Big Mac alike. Twilight and Rarity had managed to separate the tree trunks into several equal planks of wood that would begin the frame of the farm house and barn. Pinkie Pie and Caramel had managed to finish plowing the rest of the fields. In turn, this had allowed the fillies to plant all their seeds, playing games along the way like who could plant them the fastest. With so much work done, all of the ponies were now able to focus on building the structures, ensuring that everything would be able to be finished much faster. All the ponies said their goodbyes, and headed off to get some well deserved nourishment and relaxation. Applejack tried to leave herself, but Rainbow noticed before she could slip away. “Applejack…what’s the matter?” Rainbow decided to ask her again, hoping for a better answer. “Ah just need some time to think,” Applejack told her. “Ah got a lot on ma mind, and nopony but me’s gonna be able to fix it.” “I can help!” Dash exclaimed, a hint of desperation creeping into her voice. “Naw sugarcube,” Applejack told her, “Just let me work it out. Ah’ll be in tonight, Ah promise.” With that Applejack left Rainbow Dash fluttering a few feet above ground; alone. Dash could feel a black void opening inside her heart, sucking the happiness from her soul. Something screeched inside her head, like a griffon’s nails across a chalkboard. Maybe she knows, the voice in Dash’s head returned, louder than ever. “That can’t be it,” Dash said to herself, “She’s way to calm.” She’s also not being very honest, it replied back, That’s not in her character. Dash tried to ignore it once again, hoping it would clear out by the time she got back to the library. However, the whole trip back the voice derided her, and tried to make her feel worthless. It said more horrible things and laughed at her sadness. Dash couldn’t stand to hear anymore or it. Arriving at the library, she took a sharp nosedive and crashed headfirst into the ground. The hit made her woozy, but it did its job, and the voice instantly stopped talking. She shook the dust from her coat, and quickly went inside. She was again very tired, but a part of her hated that she never seemed to want to go out anymore, even when she had the opportunity, instead opting to come back and hang out at Twilight’s library. She’d always been a bit of a party pony, but she had to admit, even with Pinkie’s great parties, Ponyville never threw ones like she’d been to when she was friends with Gilda. Twilight had already made her way home, and welcomed Dash inside. Twi closed the door behind Rainbow Dash, and walked with her to the table. “Anything you need to get off your mind today, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked her. “I…I think I’m ok,” Dash told her, but was reminded that things weren’t exactly ok. “Well, on second thought Twilight, I’m just not sure what’s up with Applejack. She’s been mad at me all day, and I can’t figure out why.” Twilight moved closer to Rainbow, and leaned onto the table to think for a moment. “Hmmm,” Twilight was in deep thought for a moment, “Maybe Applejack figured it out? And maybe her anger isn’t as bad as you thought? I mean she still sounds angry, but not like I would have imagined she would.” “If it was, I don’t think she’d lie,” Dash told Twilight. “I just have a feeling it’s something else.” Twilight continued to move a little closer to Rainbow Dash. Dash noticed, but didn’t say anything. “Well, let’s talk about it then,” Twilight said. Meanwhile, Applejack had been wandering the streets of Ponyville, her mind swirling with thoughts about the night before. She’d seen Dash and Twilight together, she was sure of that. However, she really hadn’t seen anything completely wrong. Dash had looked somewhat sad, and in keeping with how Dash had acted the morning before, it could have been likely Twilight was just trying to calm her down. Regardless, seeing anypony else, even one of her best friends, laying a hoof on Dash like that got Applejack’s blood boiling. Rainbow Dash had been her ray of hope against everything that had happened, and she wanted to believe she would always see the cyan Pegasus as that. Applejack just couldn’t seem to get her head clear though. She was sure Twilight would never try to make a move on Rainbow Dash. At least, she thought she was sure. Applejack had also heard the comments around Ponyville that Dash wasn’t the type to stay committed very long. When she’d heard it, Applejack brushed off the thoughts and tried her best to ignore them, although she did let it slip into the back of her mind. Applejack hadn’t even known Rainbow to be in any committed relationships at all, let alone any on the short term. She decided maybe she needed someone to talk to herself. Applejack did not dare go to Fluttershy. If Big Macintosh got wind of any trouble, she imagined anything that had been accomplished between the two over the past few days would quickly crumble. Pinkie Pie was never very good with advice in her opinion, so she decided that maybe Rarity could help. Applejack couldn’t help but find it funny, remembering times not so long ago when her and Rarity could hardly stand to be in the same room together. After a short while, applejack found herself on the doorstep of the Carousel Boutique. She knocked lightly and waited. In a few moments, the white Unicorn opened the door to see who was outside. She had mask of green mud laid across her face, and her usual pink bathrobe was pulled tight around her body. “Oh Applejack, this is an unexpected surprise,” Rairty said. “Heya Rarity, are uh, the girls asleep yet?” Applejack began to think maybe she didn’t need to do this after all. “Of course they are,” Rarity gave a stern look, “I run a tight ship around here.” “Heh, well, good ta know Applebloom isn’t getting’ in ta too much trouble. But, uh, Rarity, do you mind if we talk for a few?” “Why of course not darling, come in,” Rarity opened the door wide and let Applejack come in. Applejack made sure she wiped her hooves off before going in further. She could see Rarity had been working hard in her spare time, creating many new fashions. Many of them seemed to be inspired by the beauty of the country. “You like them?” Rarity had noticed her looking and asked, “While making up my designs for the farm, I just ran with some of the ideas. They’ll be a hit come Applebuck Season!” “Yeah, they’re really great,” Applejack let out a sigh, “But Ah’m not here ta talk fashion Rarity. Ah’ve, uh, got some problems.” “Rainbow Dash?” Rarity said quickly. “Is it really that obvious?” Applejack was quick to ask. The two walked over to a small table in the center of the dress shop. They each took a seat on one side. “Its always easy to spot when there’s trouble between lovers my dear,” Rarity said, “And I doubt I’m the only one that noticed the tension between you two today. We’ve seen you two kiss, and you barely even touched the air two feet between each other.” “Well”, and so Applejack told the story. It didn’t take long to tell, and when it was done, Rarity simply smiled, got up, and trotted off into the kitchen. She came back levitating two cups of tea with her. She sat one down in front of Applejack and took her seat again, sipping on the tea as she did. “Honestly,” Rarity said, “I think you are overreacting dear.” “Wha-, me? Why in tarnation are ya sayin’ that?” Applejack asked. “Well, to be quite honest, you are here, talking to me right now, aren’t you?” Applejack nodded. “Then tell me what’s to say Rainbow Dash didn’t have something she needed to talk about? I’ve had plenty of things I haven’t had the chance to say to somepony I was with at the time, and Fluttershy was always willing to listen. And that doesn’t mean she is lying to you either.” Applejack thought it over for a while. It made sense, although she hated the idea that Dash could be hiding something from her. “If it is something important Applejack, Rainbow Dash will tell you. Just give it some time, and stop worrying. If things still seem off, confront Rainbow about them. Either way, I’m still going to be here if you need to talk some more.” Applejack managed a smile and said, “Thanks Rarity.” “Now, lets talk about something else,” Rarity said, “You at least need to finish your tea. And besides, can you imagine Twilight Sparkle having a thing for anypony?” Despite the fact that her eyes were open, Rainbow Dash was not sure how long the kiss had lasted. It had come as such a shock to her, her whole body had tensed up, leaving her stiff and unable to pull away. The purple unicorn had forced her tongue into the edges of Rainbow’s mouth, trying her best to mimic the passionate kisses she’d seen Rainbow share with Applejack. At that moment, despite having nothing to do with what was happening, Rainbow could feel the hatred for herself burning brighter than ever. She wondered if it was because deep down, she didn’t entirely hate the situation that was taking place. Gathering her strength, Rainbow pulled away. She quickly wiped the wetness away from her mouth. Twilight sat before her, a look of sadness and confusion upon her face. “What the hay was that Twilight?” Dash snapped out. “I…I uh… nothing, it was nothing,” Twilight turned her head away, trying to hide a few tears that had formed in her eyes. “Nothing? You call that nothing?!” Dash continued to raise her voice. “What if Applejack had come back and seen that? Or anypony else for that matter?” “You…you didn’t feel anything…” Twilight seemed to trail off. “Feel…what? You know what my feeling are Twilight. I thought us talking was going to help me get through my problems, help me make a better relationship between me and Applejack. But big surprise with my bucking luck, it’s only gotten harder!” “I…but I…oooohhhh!” Twilight raced off, tears streaming down her face, up to her oom and slammed the door with a burst of purple magic. Dash was left sitting on the floor of library, unsure of everything now more than ever. Not only was she unsure of how to go about the discussion she had to have with Applejack, but she was worried by the feeling she had just felt. Somewhere deep inside, it was as if Twilight’s magic had reached in and touched something inside the Pegasus, and it had felt….good. Dash couldn’t believe herself. Hmmmm, interesting thoughts we’re having, eh Rainbow Dash, the voice inside her head suddenly broke in. Really testing this whole “Element of Loyalty” thing, aren’t we. Dash had no intention of listening, and tried her best to pretend she was hearing nothing. Several minutes with her alone in the library. Soon however, she heard light hoofsteps on the doorstep, and Applejack came in quietly through the door. Dash got up quickly, acting as if nothing had happened. “What’re you doing up?” Applejack asked her, “Ah thought you’d be worn out by now.” “Twilight has some great comics here,” Dash lied, “Some I’ve never read before. I was just putting them up when you came in. I couldn’t sleep is all.” The fake grin Dash managed seemed to work, and Applejack trotted over to her and tugged on her rainbow mane. “Come on sugarcube, lets curl up for the night and talk some before we fall asleep,” Applejack said sweetly,” And uh, Ah love you Dash.” “I love you too, AJ,” Dash said back, and simultaneously felt like somepony had bucked her in the gut. “Ya know, if you’ve ever got anything ya need to talk about, no matter what, I won’t be mad,” Applejack said, trying to hint around to see if Rarity might be right. “Of course I will,” Rainbow said, the knot in her stomach twisting ever worse. “I uh, might need too soon…but…not now.” Somewhere inside Applejack, a spark of happiness sprung to life. She was sure Rarity had been right, and that it was only a matter of time till she found out everything. Applejack just smiled. “Come on sugarcube, lets hit the hay.” For the first time in quite awhile, Dash had had dreams, and not a single one had anything to do with the guilt on her conscience. For Dash however, these new dreams were much worse. Every place she went in these dreams, she went with Twilight. Everything she did in these dreams, she did with Twilight. She dreamt about Twilight’s body, about her mane about her…kiss. Not long after falling asleep, Dash sprang awake, these new dreams fresh in her mind. She could still feel the knot in her stomach, reminding her of how horrible it was she was thinking of this now. Dash decided she needed some sort of closure on the subject. Twilight had left Dash’s mind in such a state when she ran off, Dash knew she had to talk with her about it. Dash climbed out of bed as quietly as possible, and rose into the air to try and make the least amount of noise possible. She nudged the door open, and closed it back just as gently. She headed up stairs, floating above each step like a ghost in the old mare’s tales Dash heard about when she was a filly. She landed softly outside Twilight’s door. She pushed the door open, and found Twi still awake, sitting on her bed with her face buried in a book. It was obvious she wasn’t reading it. Spike snored loudly in a basket on the other side of the room. “Twilight…” Dash said. A little over an hour after Dash had gotten up, Applejack stirred from her sleep. Groggily she adjusted her eyes to the dark, and realized the warm cyan body she had become so used to sleeping against was nowhere to be found. “Rainbow Dash?” Applejack called out into the darkness. No reply came back. Applejack climbed out of bed cautiously, and ignoring her hat on the bedside table, left the room to find Rainbow Dash. My Old Apple Acre Home Part 8“Twilight…” Rainbow Dash said, walking closer to the purple Unicorn. Twilight looked up from her book. The tears in her eyes were evident. She didn’t say anything to Rainbow Dash, and slowly looked away. It reminded Dash a bit of that first night when her and Applejack had kissed for the first time. As she came in, Dash came to the realization she really didn’t have anything planned to say to Twilight. “Twilight, I uh, just want to talk to you,” Dash tried not to sound anything but nice. “Maybe…maybe it’s best we don’t Rainbow Dash,” Twilight sniffed, and tried not to let more of the tears fall from her eyes. “But Twilight, if we don’t, I can already tell it’s gonna drive me crazy. And since I can’t even confess things to Applejack, I don’t want any more stress on my mind.” For a moment it surprised Twilight, hearing such strong words from the Pegasus. Back when Twi had first met Rainbow Dash, Twilight could tell she was strong-willed, but could also tell she did not have a way with words. “Look Rainbow Dash, I…I know it was wrong what I did…I understand if you want to end our friendship,” Twilight put her head down on the bed and turned away. “No, it isn’t that Twilight…I mean, yeah I’m not entirely happy about what happened but I can’t stop thinking about it. I thought about it in bed with AJ, I dreamt about it. There was just…something…” Twilight looked up, and Dash could see she was trying to force back something of a smile. “You…you did?” Twilight asked her, halfway still in tears, and halfway suddenly very happy. “That’s what we need to talk about…” Dash hesitated for a moment, seeing the happiness in Twilight’s eyes and knowing full well she was about to crush it. “I love Applejack, Twilight, I can’t be fooling around on her. I’ve heard the rumors around Ponyville about me before,” Dash looked very serious at this point. Twilight drooped at those words. She knew she should have expected it, but they still cut deep. She hated herself a little inside, being so jealous of one of her best friends, knowing what all this could do to not just her and rainbow Dash’s friendship, but her and Applejack’s as well. “What’s to talk about Rainbow Dash!?” Twilight snapped suddenly, “I messed up! But can you really imagine what it’s like seeing you two here, every day, so happy together. No matter what’s going on in your head Rainbow Dash, I bet it all gets better with Applejack! I miss the days before the fire, Rainbow Dash, I long for those. I could talk to you more often, I could watch you streak your Rainbow across the sky, and hope that one day, I could hold that beautiful cyan Pegasus close and tell her how I feel!” Twilight broke down into harder tears. She threw herself to the floor, and continued to talk through her sobbing. “I didn’t want things… t-to be like this Rainbow! D-do you t-t-t-think I like the idea o—of hurting Applejack”? Rainbow Dash didn’t know what to say. Twilight’s outburst had come on so suddenly, she hadn’t had time to take all those words in. “Twilight…you egghead,” Dash actually managed with a smile, “Why couldn’t you tell me this?” “Would it have mattered?” Twilight asked her. “Before the fire, t—the way you t-t-talked about Applejack, I-I knew what you w-w-were thinking about.” Dash thought on those words for a moment. She admitted, she’d wanted to be with Applejack a very long time. But just as other mare’s sometimes took their chances when certain colts asked them out, she couldn’t say for sure if she would have given Twilight the time or not. Dash admitted that she hated the situation, but it was getting harder and harder for her to find a way to resolve it. “How long…have you felt this way about me?” Dash asked her. “Since we first used the Elements of Harmony. When we were together, that first night after Nightmare Moon was defeated, all of us together, I just felt so much more for you. I wasn’t sure at first, so in the following days I tried to spend a lot of time with everyone. I had sleepovers with Rarity and AJ, had talks with Fluttershy, and went to every one of Pinkie Pie’s parties. The one thing I realized though was that I loved having such good friends, but none of them made me feel that way. I knew I wasn’t wrong after that.” Dash thought back to all the time she had pinned over Applejack, a longing that existed before Twilight had come to Ponyville. Still, it had been a couple of years now since that time, and Dash knew all too well how horrible such secret passion for another could be. “What is it you want me to do, Twilight?” Dash asked, full well knowing what her answer would likely be. Twilight didn’t respond. She stared deeply into the violet orbs that were Rainbow Dash’s eyes. All that she could think of were Dash’s words: “I can’t stop thinking about it.” Before anything else could be said, Twilight threw herself on top of Rainbow Dash, forcing her lips across Rainbow’s. Rainbow didn’t resist, and gave back just as passionately. Dash could feel that spark, growing brighter and brighter. For a moment she pushed Applejack from her mind and laid back, trying to enjoy of moment. Now awake, Applejack tried her best to slip silently out the door. She couldn’t imagine anypony would be happy of being woken up at this hour of the night. The door only made a slight creak, and quickly Applejack was in the darkened library. With the candles blown out, Applejack found it nearly impossible to find her way around. “On all the nights fer Luna to slack on tha light,” Applejack whispered to herself. As if on command, the clouds that had been covering the moon slowly floated out of its way, shooting beams of moonlight directly through the library windows. The room glowed in the blue moonlight, and gave Applejack time to adjust her vision. After a few moments she was sure Rainbow Dash wasn’t here. “Would she’ve gone outside?” Applejack asked herself. Applejack decided to continue looking around. There was no sign that Dash had stayed long. Applejack sighed. She walked to each one and glanced out the windows, but Ponyville was too dark to be able to tell if anypony was out there. She thought about going back to bed and waiting for her cyan Pegasus to come back herself. She couldn’t imagine she’d be gone long, and Applejack was sure Dash had a good reason for it. She wasn’t even sure where she would start looking. She thought maybe Dash had things to check on in her cloud house, especially since she didn’t often stay there anymore. Still, with no way to check things out, AJ decided it would be useless to go out and check. With that, Applejack decided to turn back and go back to bed. And then she heard a thump. It wasn’t very loud, but the brief, frantic rustling that came after made Applejack suddenly very suspicious. Surely Rainbow Dash wasn’t up talking to Twilight at this hour. And if she was, she knew Twilight would be very careful to not cause any disturbances for fear of incurring the anger of anypony that might be awakened at this hour. Spike was also asleep by now, though he’d generally need to be smashed against a brick wall, or something to that equivalent, to be awakened again. Regardless, after being so sure just hours before, she could feel her heart sinking in her chest, being eaten away at by the fear that maybe Rainbow Dash was trying to hide some very large secret from her. Applejack knew if she didn’t at least investigate, then she didn’t feel she could even begin to continue to trust Rainbow. Slowly and as quietly as possible, Applejack started up the stairs. Twenty minutes before Applejack laid the first hoof on the staircase, Dash was now sitting up, her face flushed and hot. Twilight sat behind her, and stared out the window into the moonlight. “I’m not sure how to feel now,” Dash said low, her mind racing. What a winner we have here, that voice in her mind spoke up, the “fastest flyer in Equestria” is also the fastest cheater as well. Dash ignored it. She hated it, but the past minutes, when she’d had her lips pressed against Twilight’s, they’d been nothing short of amazing. Was this some added bonus of unicorn magic, the power to make something like this so incredible? Had her first kiss with Applejack felt this incredible? Dash suddenly felt like she couldn’t remember. She could still see it in her mind, but all feeling had been replaced by the strange euphoric feeling that had come with touching Twilight’s lips. For a good ten minutes, Dash sat there, lost in thought. “Rainbow, I’m sorry”, Twilight had walked over to the Pegasus, “I mean, I’m not sorry for how I feel, but I’ve made you do horrible things to Applejack. You can…hate me if you want.” Without even thinking, Dash turned around and threw herself back onto Twilight, kissing her furiously. They landed with a thud against the floor. In a surprising turn, Twilight took control and rolled the two so that Dash was below her. Even with her eyes closed, Dash could visualize every inch of Twilight. She caressed Twilight with her hooves, feeling the softness of her mane as they slid down her back. In her mind, she a thought occurred to her that she both loved and despised: If Applejack never finds out, I’m fine with this. Too lost in their embrace, neither pony could hear the sound of the bedroom door creaking open, nor see the shape of the orange earth pony about to step inside. “Maybe Ah should go back,” Applejack said, moving up one step. She was up five of the fifteen steps that led up to Twilight’s bedroom, and with each step she asked herself the same question. But with so much doubt clouding her mind and swallowing her heart, she knew she had to find out. So with each successive step, she continued to ask herself over and over, until she stood on the landing at the top of the stairs. She could hear the rustling again, a little more clearly now. Was that moaning she could also hear? Applejack tried to put the idea out of her mind. Rarity had said herself she couldn’t imagine Twilight Sparkle as having interest in just about anypony. “But Rainbow Dash isn’t anypony,” AJ said, “She’s my pony.” She put a hoof to the door, hoping she wasn’t going to be walking in on something she’d regret seeing. As the door slid open, she could see Twilight’s tail and flank, but the candle burning in the corner made it harder to see just what she was doing. The door began to creak as Applejack pushed it slightly more. She poked her head inside, and simultaneously felt her heart explode. She couldn’t stand to see anymore of what was happening. Applejack loudly bucked the door completely open with one hoof, slamming it against the wall. Twilight leapt off of Rainbow Dash and fell hard on her flank. Dash looked up quickly, a look of regret quickly filling her eyes. Despite the noise, Spike continued to sleep. “Applejack, wait!” Dash tried to cry out as the earth pony turned and began to storm down the stairs. Dash glanced at Twilight, seeing the unicorn with tears in her eyes and the similar look for regret on her face. Dash stood up and glanced away quickly, running down the stairs to catch Applejack. My Old Apple Acre Home Part 9As Rainbow Dash chased Applejack out into the darkness, the voice in her head began to run rampant, insulting her, reminding her of how horrible she was, and telling her that the truth had to come out. It told her how it was sure it would crush Applejack’s already broken heart, and laughed at the pain it was sure to cause both ponies. Despite this, Dash continued on, reserving herself to the idea that if she was crazy, it wouldn’t bother her in the least as long as she could try to sort things out with Applejack. She had no idea what she would say to her, but Dash hoped that AJ still believed that there was love for her in Dash’s heart. She also hated to admit, but the voice pounding at the walls of her mind was right, and it was time everything came out. Dash took to the air, knowing that Applejack had the ability to outrun her on foot. The darkness of late-night Ponyville also failed to help matters. No sooner had Dash gotten a good vantage point than she had lost sight of the orange pony. She tried to follow each path with her eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, but nopony seemed present on any one of them. Dash next swooped low, scanning the trees and bushes that Applejack could have chosen to hide in. After several tries, she could still find no sign of the mare she was still so sure she loved. She decided there was nothing she could do in the darkness under Luna’s moon. Dash fluttered back to the library, head hung low as she walked through the door. Twilight stared down at her from the door, tears still streaming down her face. Dash didn’t even glance once at her. The cyan Pegasus kept her slow stride all the way to the bed. The voice in her head had subsided, but left her with one of the worst headaches of her life. She climbed into the lonely bed, and laid on her side for a while, staring blankly at the wall. Dash closed her eyes and turned over for a moment, briefly hoping that maybe it had all been a dream, that maybe she hadn’t messed everything so badly and been so stupid as to indulge her fantasies like a young school filly. She had hoped that when she opened them, Applejack would be there, sleeping soundly, unaware that the Pegasus she loved was ready to break down over a horrible nightmare. Sadly, Dash found the spot empty, just as it had been minutes before. The brown hat Applejack always wore still sat by itself on the bedroom table. Dash reached for and pulled it close to her chest, and sobbed long into the night. Morning came to Ponyville as usual, and most everypony went about their business as usual. Nopony seemed to pay any attention to Rainbow Dash, who’d been up since Celestia’s sun first rose over the horizon. She darted back and forth across the clouds, searching for any sign of Applejack. She searched high and low, but continued to come up with nothing. Soon, she realized, her friends would be gathering for another day of work at Sweet Apple Acres, and she decided that would be the most likely place to check. When she arrived, Pinkie Pie and Caramel were carrying water pails in their mouths and watering their seeded areas. Rarity was stretched out her couch, which was sat upon a large blanket scattered with designs. Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were talking near the forest, evidently waiting on the others. Dash saw no sign of Twilight Sparkle, although she wasn’t surprised. Dash decided to ask Pinkie first. “Uh, hey Pinkie Pie,” Dash glided down and landed near her, trying not to act differently from her usual demeanor, “Have uh, you seen Applejack anywhere around today?” “Mmmph ammmumph, ahumhumm, mmmmumphph,” Pinkie tried to ramble out, the watering can still clutched in her mouth. “So…no?” Dash said, confused. Pinkie Pie nodded, then dropped the can from her mouth and said, “Gosh Rainbow Dash, something didn’t happen did it? Cause that’d be super awful, then it’d be really hard to invite everypony to my parties because everypony doesn’t like each other anymore.” “N-no, Pinkie, its nothing,” Dash told her and forced the hardest smile of her life. By that point, rarity was trotting over to see what the topic of conversation was. “Good morning, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said properly, “I’ve got several designs ready for the approval of you and…where is Applejack?” “Well, that’s what I was asking Pinkie Pie about. I haven’t seen her this morning.” “You haven’t? But I saw her last night. She seemed fine.” Rarity waited a moment, then suddenly, “What did you do to her, Rainbow Dash!?” “Whoa,” Dash said surprised, “N-nothing. I just haven’t seen her this morning.” “Well, I’d hope you didn’t! After everything that’s happened to that pony, I’d hope you had enough sense to not break her heart too,” and with that Rarity went back to her couch, plopping down with an angry scowl. Dash figured Rarity must have talked with Applejack about something during the time that she had been gone the day before, given how she’d just acted. It made Dash wonder what had been said, considering it likely meant AJ had been thinking about Dash hurting her before the events that had transpired. No sooner had Rarity left than Big Macintosh and Fluttershy wandered over to see what the fuss was about. “Oh no,” dash said to herself, fearing the wrath of Big Macintosh. “Mornin’ Rainbow Dash,” Big Mac said politely, “Ready to start? Uh, where’s mah sister at this mornin’?” “I’m uh, not sure,” Dash admitted honestly, “She wasn’t home when I woke up. You, uh, haven’t seen her, have you?” “Nope,” he said, and looked down at Fluttershy. “I haven’t seen her either Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said sweetly, “Oh I hope nothing bad has happened to her.” “Naw, Applejack’s too strong for that,” another smile crossed her lips that made them feel like they were going to shatter. “Well, if Applejack isn’t here, maybe we should call it a day off, and pick things up tomorrow,” Caramel spoke up, his water pail at his hooves. “I wouldn’t mind a rest day after these past couple.” He glanced nervously at Pinkie Pie, who grinned ear to ear back at him. “That’s just fine,” Dash said quickly, “Everypony’s been working so hard to help us. You guys are at least 20…no 40% cooler than I thought you were before!” with every sentence she said, trying to keep her composure, something inside Dash slowly chipped away. With that, Dash took to the air again and left faster than any of the other ponies. Big Macintosh and Fluttershy began to walk back towards her house. “Do you think something seemed strange with Rainbow Dash today?” Fluttershy asked the big red pony. “She seemed like somethin’ was botherin’ her. And mah sister bein’ gone doesn’t help anythin’ either. Ah’ll find out,” he told her. None of the other ponies knew that Applejack was much closer than they thought she might be. Hiding in the apple cellar that had she had built not so long ago, the one which Twilight Sparkle had fallen into the day she’d learned about Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense. As an in-ground establishment, the cellar had survived and went relatively unnoticed by everypony else. Applejack had sealed herself away inside, allowing herself to cry, free from the watching eyes of any other ponies. She didn’t want to admit to anypony what Rainbow Dash did. Part of her wished she’d just gone back to bed. Another part wished she’d never even gotten out of bed at all. Still, she knew the hurt wouldn’t have been any different had she learned about it much later. Applejack wondered after all the friendship lessons she’d help write, after everything they had been through, how Twilight or Rainbow Dash could do something like that, full well knowing the hurt it would cause. She’d overheard the brief discussion between Fluttershy and Big Macintosh as they headed back. At the moment, she’d really wanted to spill everything out to her big brother, but she didn’t want to get Fluttershy involved in anyone’s problems. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She picked an apple up in her mouth, and climbed the stairs. She pushed open the cellar door and took aim at the red pony walking away from her. She lobbed the apple and watched as it soared toward Big Macintosh, and crashed into his flank. He jumped with surprise, causing Fluttershy to drop out of the air in fear. Big Mac quickly looked back, causing Applejack to slam the door closed, hoping Big Mac would see and get the hint. Applejack waited. Outside, Big Macintosh helped pull Fluttershy off the ground. “Ah’m sorry,” he said, “But uh, go on home. Ah’ll be back soon. Ah gotta check something is all,” he told her. “Um, ok. Take your time,” she blushed a bit, and headed back alone. When he was sure she was gone, Big Macintosh headed back to where the cellar door was. He was surprised he hadn’t taken a look to see if it had survived, but the same thought also made him feel very stupid, as there was obviously no large open hole anywhere around after the remains from the fire had been cleared away. Big Mac knocked, and waited for a few moments. Soon, an orange hoof pushed the door open, and let him come inside. He trotted down the stairs and waited for Applejack to close the door. When she came down behind him, Big Macintosh couldn’t believe how terrible she looked. “What happened?” he asked her, “Ya look awful hun.” “Ah’m…ah’m not sure I want ta talk about it yet,” she choked out. “Well, regardless of what’s goin’ on, ya know Ah’m always here for ya,” he came close to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. Applejack would have smiled if she could have, but Big Mac did manage to make her feel a little better. Big Mac looked away, and simply said, “Rainbow Dash?” “Applejack looked up at him, and replied, “Yeah.” The two sat in silence for a while, Applejack occasionally turning away to keep him from seeing her cry more. As if she were a little filly again, Applejack wanted her brother to only see her as a strong pony, who didn’t let a little thing like…was love a little thing? Nopony seemed to think it was, and it sure didn’t feel little. She wasn’t sure what Big Macintosh thought of love. “If things are a’changin’ AJ, than ya’ll know we might have to leave after all,” Big Mac spoke after a bit. “Will things be changin’?” “Well…” Applejack began, and started to tell everything to her brother. Dash was sure Applejack was far out of Ponyville by the time the afternoon sun had begun to set. She’d looked everywhere in her attempt to find Applejack, but had come up with nothing. Nopony had seen her since they’d left the farm the day before. Now, sitting alone on the bed in her cloud house, she wondered the things she would say to Applejack if she did happen to come across her. “Sorry AJ for everything, and oh, by the way, I may have had something to do with the orchard burning down in the first place.” Dash sighed. In the words of Applejack herself when faced with what seemed like an unsolvable problem, she was completely bucked. Worse, she was sure things could never be the same with Twilight again. Even worse than that, Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure she regretted what had happened with Twilight. Regardless, she knew Applejack was her top priority. She had to make things right, once and for all. Resting her head on her cloud pillow, she managed to pass into a deep sleep. No nightmares came to her, no horrible visions. Later, Dash would guess it was because the worst of things was actually happening in her waking world, so her dreams might actually be her only means of escape. Applejack opted to stay where she was for a while, despite Big Macintosh offering to give up his bed at Fluttershy’s so she could have a good night’s sleep. He’d said something about being ok to stay the night in Fluttershy’s room, but Applejack had mostly ignored it, and so the large red pony had left her alone once again in the cellar. Seeing the moonlight seeping through the cracks, Applejack decided to head outside for a bit. It was unlikely anypony would find her at this point. She trolled out into the moonlight, and headed for one of the remaining apple trees. She kenw which one she was going to. She called the tree Zev. It wasn’t a name she had decided upon, it’s name actually had come from Applebloom. After reading Applebloom a bedtime story called Requiem for a Pony, Applebloom had decided to carve the main character’s name, Zev, into the tree, and so the name had just stuck. Applejack crashed under the tree, and let herself bathe in the moonlight. The night air felt good as the wind blew gently through her mane. IT made her feel calm, and allowed her to think more easily. She’d given up crying, finding out that a pony can only cry so many tears in a day. She looked up at the stars, wondering where she should go from here. It hurt to admit it, but she couldn’t stop loving rainbow Dash, no matter how hurt she was. But right now, she had no idea what she could say if the cyan Pegasus was to show up in front of her. She began to wonder just what Rainbow might be doing at the moment. The images of her and Twilight flashed back into her mind. Applejack realized that she couldn’t hate Twilight either, as much as she tried. Sometimes she hated just how much she was aware of her honesty. With a sigh, Applejack laid down, hoping to get some rest under the full moon. It would be a short sleep, however. Dash awoke a few hours later. By this point, Luna’s moon was high in the night sky, casting Ponyville in its soft glow. Despite the usual darkness, Dash decided to give one more sweep of Ponyville. She decided maybe luck might be on her side this time, and grabbed Applejack’s hat, that she was surprised to see had stayed afloat on her clouds. She threw the hat onto her head and swooped down towards the town below. Dash flew through the streets, flying over the few ponies who were still attending to certain duties before retiring to their homes for the night. She stopped by Sugarcube Corner as they were closing, with Pinkie having as little information as she had had before. She flew over to the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity was attending to her last two customers of the night. The two were a stallion couple who liked their privacy, and didn’t like to give out their real names. They’d told Dash to call them Squid and Drowning, and she made small talk with the two until Rarity returned with their finished outfits. She still seemed to have some strange anger towards Rainbow Dash, but she tried to hide it as she finished attending to her customers. “There you are gentlecolts,” Rarity said, handing them each custom suits, “It certainly was a challenge. I don’t make many clothes for stallions.” Squid thanks her first, and turned towards the door, revealing his knife-shaped cutie mark. Drowning followed suit, his spider cutie mark swaying with his flank as he followed Squid out. After a moment the two were alone. “Rarity, have you heard anything since earlier?” Dash asked her. “No, Rainbow Dash, I have not. But I have a good idea of why she might be mad at you. What were you hiding Rainbow Dash?” “I was…uh, well Twilight came to me and….I’m not sure if I want to talk about it right now,” Dash decided to tell her. “I think I’ve gotten quite enough,” Rarity said, and motioned for her to leave the shop. Dash didn’t put up an argument, and left the shop quickly. Now she was outside in the cool breeze of the night, once again without any leads to where she might find her lover. She hoped Applejack still considered herself as such. In the glow of the moonlight, Dash could see the tops of the trees remaining in Sweet Apple Acres. She decided to take one more look around the property, in hopes that she might even find as sign that she had been there. Soon Dash was hovering high above the mostly barren area that had been the orchard. In the back, the small grove of trees with their remaining apples sparkled brightly under the moon. It had been awhile since Dash had relaxed in one of the trees from the orchard, so she decided to fly over to where they were and think for a moment. And then, while getting closer to the grove, she noticed something that seemed out of place. A small orange blob lay under the tree, not moving. Dash was sure she knew what it was. Quickly, she flapped her wings hard and flew down to the ground. She skidded to a hard stop in the dirt. There, before her eyes, was the sleeping form of Applejack. Dash could tell from the dark circles under her eyelids, that she’d likely not slept much until recently. “A-A-Applejack,” Rainbow Dash tried to say, but felt the word ticking in her throat. The sound was enough to make Applejack stir from her sleep. Eyes focusing, Applejack looked up to see the cyan form of Rainbow Dash, her mane beautifully illuminated in the moonlight. “Wha-What the hay are you doin’ here Rainbow Dash?” Applejack stood up and said angrily. “I came to talk to you,” Dash said, “I have a lot that I need to say, and I’m not the best at saying it.” For a moment, Applejack just stared with an angry look at Dash, then said “Talk.” “I messed up AJ, really bad,” she said, trying to gather everything she could, “But it’s not the first time. I feel so horrible for this, but I’ve been hiding some things. Important things.” Applejack raised one of her eyebrows, “What kind of things, Rainbow Dash? Have there been other ponies too? Have Ah just been some pony you liked a little more, one that was just too good ta let go?” “No AJ, there were no others. What you saw…well, it was what you saw, but it had just happened. When you came in last night, from being gone, Twilight had kissed me. Just out of nowhere, she did, and I ekpt thinking about it. I had to talk to her, and one thing led to another and…” Applejack cut her off, “An that was good enough to go and do that to me?!” “No! Applejack, you have no idea how guilty I feel about this, and everything!” Dash knew it was now or never. She really had nothing planned, and she knew blurting it out at random wouldn’t go over well either, ,so she waited for Applejack to respond. “Just what other thin’s are ya trying to apologize for, Rainbow Dash?” It was now or never. The voice in Dash’s head came back for its final performance. It laughed maniacally, telling her that the end of everything was close at hand. Dash no longer had any reason to care for the things the voice said. “I burned down Sweet Apple Acres.” The words stunned Applejack. She stood silent for a moment, letting the words soak into her mind. “C-come again?” Applejack said, stunned. “It was my fault Sweet Apple Acres burned down.” Without letting Applejack speak another word, Dash told her the story. She spoke of Derpy Hooves and the weather team pony who had tried to put her on cloud duty. She told of the jealously she’d had when Applejack had been speaking to the stallion. Everything that Dash had held in for so long came pouring out. The whole time, tears flowed from Dash’s eyes. Soon she finished the story and began to sob more apologies. The voice that had plagued Rainbow Dash’s mind for so long vanished, the product of her guilty conscience finally vanquished. Applejack continued to stand in silence. Dash approached her, trying to get in close to the orange earth pony. Without warning, Applejack raised a hoof and slammed Dash across the face. Before Dash could react, Applejack once again took off into the night. Too stunned to give chase, Dash laid in the dirt, rubbing her cheek as the tears continued to stream down her face and crash into the earth below her. My Old Apple Acre Home Part 10Rainbow Dash was truly alone. Rubbing her face that was slowly returning to its normal color, she sat under the tree Applejack had just been under. She was sure now that nothing would change how Applejack was feeling. She wondered if maybe it hadn’t been the right time, and giving in to the voice that had plagued her mind had really been the best option. The voice was no longer talking to her either, which only served to make her loneliness worse. Normally a thought such as that would have worried anypony, but Dash was sure she had nowhere else she could go. At the moment, Dash was sure she didn’t want to talk to Twilight Sparkle. She didn’t blame Twilight for everything, how could she? Regardless, she knew now was not the time to go back, especially if something did change inside her distraught lover and she decided to come back to find Dash. Rarity was sure to hate her now, if she didn’t already. Big Macintosh was staying with Fluttershy, and Dash didn’t want to even chance going around him. She’d never seen Big Mac when he was mad, but she could only guess it wouldn’t be good. Dash considered finding Pinkie Pie, but brinigng her problems to Pinkie would likely only serve to depress the pink earth pony. Looking at the moon, high in the sky, Dash thought about how many times in the past few weeks she’d seen Luna’s moon like this. She thought about one of the last dreams she’d had, when she’d flown away from her cloud home and screamed into the night. She kept thinking about if she’d just kept flying. If she’d let herself decide she was crazy, that the voices in her mind and the pictures in her dreams were not normal, and just flown away before she hurt Applejack anymore. Sadly, her sanity had caused more harm than she could have imagined. Dash didn’t want to cry anymore. She’d always been a strong pony, and was sure she’d shed more tears since the fire than she’d been able to cry in her entire life. She stood up strongly, and vowed that she’d give it one more shot to fix things with Applejack when the sun rose in the morning. Dash flapped her wings open, and soared into the night towards her home. Dash wouldn’t find out until morning, but as the night went on, a certain four ponies in Ponyville would receive letters from one of their best friends. Each letter varied in content, and all were short on details for why they were sent. Even so, by the time they were all read, it was too late to do anything. All most of them could do was ask one question: Why? Morning came to Ponyville as it had every day before it. Despite her ability to stay strong in the face of losing everything, Rainbow Dash hadn’t slept all night. Her worries had begun to catch up to her. As soon as she saw that the sun had come up, she headed out in to Ponyville. With no idea where Applejack could have gone, Dash decided she’d have to start with the place she most dreaded: Fluttershy’s. It was an odd thing to be so scared of going to see Fluttershy, the pony least likely to hurt anything. Dash was certain though that Big Macintosh may not be so forgiving. Soaring over the town, heading for the cottage that Fluttershy shared with as many animals as she could manage, Dash hoped she could find some trace of where Applejack had gone. It didn’t take long before she was standing at the end of the path leading up to the door. She fluttered up to the porch, and stood for a few moments, deciding if it was in her best interest to even try. She decided that she had to find out something, and rapt on the door with one hoof loudly. Fluttershy answered, but seeing who was standing on her doorstep, she quickly moved away and Big Macintosh stepped out. “Mornin’ Miss Rainbow Dash,” Big Macintosh said in a rather friendly tone. “I figure you already know, but I’m looking for Applejack,” Dash didn’t waste any time in asking. “Well now,” he started, his expression becoming a bit more grim, “Ah can’t say Ah know where she’s gone ta. But Ah know she ain’t in Ponyville anymore.” Big Mac turned and walked inside for a moment, then came back with a letter clutched in his teeth. He lowered his head so the letter was eye level with Dash. Slowly, she read the black inked words carefully to herself. The letter read: To All My Friends in Ponyville, Although some of us may not be on the best terms right now, I just wanted everypony to know how much I’ve enjoyed being your friend. Its with a pretty heavy heart I’m announcing my leaving of Ponyville. Too much has happened, and theres too much on my mind right now to even continue a normal life here, so for now I’m going to go. I may come back soon, but I wouldn’t worry about me if I don’t. I’m not going to say where I’m going, because even I’m not sure, but its for my own sanity. I’ll miss everypony. -Applejack Dash was a tad surprised to see it hadn’t been written the way Applejack usually talked, but she assumed Spike or whoever helped her write the letter didn’t take the time to copy her inflection. “But you know where she’s going, don’t you Big Macintosh?” Dash asked sadly. “If Ah do, it ain’t mah place to tell you,” he told her sternly. “I can tell you know everything,” Dash put her ears down and looked sadly at Fluttershy’s porch, “I know you probably would like to beat me into a blue puddle on the ground.” “Despite my feelin’s on what has happened with mah sister, I ain’t no mare beater. Nopony deserves somethin’ like that. But maybe all this’ll make ya think more about your actions, Miss Dash.” With that, Big Macintosh retired into the house, and closed the door, leaving Dash to feel more alone than ever. Asleep that night in her cloud bed, despite the voice having purged itself from her head, Rainbow Dash had one final dream regarding the fire. She could see everything that had happened on that day that seemed so long ago, when Applejack had nearly lost everything. Only this time, something seemed different. Applejack came trotting out, soaking wet from Dash’s rain clouds, looking absolutely miserable. Behind her, the fire still raged. The Pegasus ponies hadn’t arrived to put the blaze out yet. Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. “Why couldn’t ya tell me, sugarcube?” she said sadly. “AJ, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for…” she was cut off quickly. “ Why did ya have ta wait till everythin’ was so far gone?” Dash didn’t have an answer. The part of herself that she had considered crazy had all along been right in condemning her for her actions, truly striving to make her admit her guilt and try to make things right. “I told you, I’m sorry,” Dash told her, staring into the green eyes of the earth pony as the fire crept closer and closer. “Maybe, in there, might have hurt less,” Applejack turned her head toward the ground. Without any warning, Rainbow Dash watched in horror as Applejack quickly galloped away back towards the blaze. Despite Dash’s protests, she would not come back. Headlong she ran into the flames, which charred her coat instantly. Soon she was gone completely, engulfed in the orange inferno. The brown hat she always wore burst back out of the flames, burning quickly as it soared over Dash’s head and turned to ash. Dash awoke, feeling guiltier than ever. She couldn’t imagine that she might have hurt Applejack so bad she might want to die instead. Her letter hadn’t implied such a thing, but Dash’s mind was running with the notion regardless. Dash sat up on her cloud bed, and looked across the room to the table she had made to sit in the room. Applejack’s brown hat still sat on the dresser. Dash looked away from it and slumped back onto the clouds, trying to clear her ehad for even a moment, and get some more sleep. Soon she was out again. She wouldn’t realize it until later, but had she stayed awake even a few minutes longer, she might not have lost the last piece of everything she had lost. The enchantments that had held Applejack’s hat for so long in the clouds finally gave out, and slowly the hat sank through the clouds. Once through the bottom, the hat soared away, caught by the wind that blew through the cold Equestrian night. Much like the seasons, many things remained the same in Ponyville, and yet many things began to change as well. As he’d told Applejack on the last day she’d remained in Ponyville, Big Macintosh and Applebloom eventually packed up their things and left for a plot of land in Appleoosa, after making a stop of course to drop Granny Smith off with the Orange family in Manehatten. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged tearful goodbyes with their friend, vowing to visit often so they could continue to crusade for their cutie marks. A tearful Fluttershy was also left behind as they departed, wishing they’d turn back and come back to her house, hoping that she wouldn’t be left behind. With so many animals to care for, Fluttershy couldn’t move herself, and was too left behind in Ponyville. Everyday for weeks, Rainbow Dash made trips further and further, looking for any trace of where Applejack had gone. On days she was feeling particularly in good spirits, she would perform her trademark sonic rainboom, hoping that Applejack would see it and investiagate to see what was going on. Sadly, nothing ever came of her trips, and she would usually return to Ponyville feeling empty and alone. Eventually she began to visit Twilight again, and with time the two had become something of a couple. However, things never felt quite right to Dash, and she continued to search when she could. Whatever spark she had felt when kissing Twilight on those nights before had vanished. Dash hated to admit that that spark may well have been from the excitement that she could have been caught kissing another mare while still being in her relationship. It wasn’t that Dash didn’t like Twilight either, she was still one of Rainbow Dash’s best friends, but Dash could never truly bring herself to say she loved the purple unicorn. Within a few months, coupled with intense arguing that arose between the two, Rainbow Dash ended the relationship, and decided to sever her own ties with Ponyville. It ended nearly a year to the day Applejack had left town. She flew to her cloud house and gathered what belongings she had. Dash placed them on a small cloud she could easily pull behind her, and flew away from Ponyville. She’d not see the town again for the next two years. Rainbow Dash could hear the roar of the crowd from outside the waiting area, as she prepared herself for what she considered to be the biggest moment of her life. The problem was, no matter how ready she was, she just couldn’t seem to stay focused. When the letter came the day before, things that she had finally been able to put out of her mind after three years came flooding back, and now here she was, ready to perform in front of the Wonderbolts for a chance to join them, and all she could think about was Ponyville. Just outside of where she was, Dash could see Soarin’ and Spitfire standing ready to judge the contestants. She kept thinking back to the night before. She’d just returned to her new cloud home that floated alongside the city of Cloudsdale, when a spark of green flame lit up her home, and the message had appeared. Instantly Dash knew where it had come from, so she carefully pulled the red ribbon off and let the paper unroll itself on her table. She began to read it with great interest, noting that it was surprising to see that it had been written exactly the way a certain pony spoke. Dear Ms. Dash, Despite the differences that we’ve all had, Ah’m askin’ if you would be so kind as ta join us in Ponyville. I assume ya still live there, but if not, don’t be makin’ the journey on my account. Tragically, our beloved Granny Smith passed away recently in Manehatten, and we’re holdin’ services in Ponyville tomorrow afternoon, with a get together at Sugarcube Corner afterwards. Despite what she seemed, she thought a lot of ya, and knew how happy ya’ll made Applejack. So please, if ya would join us in this tiem of mournin’. -Big Macintosh Dash couldn’t believe it. For her, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Dash sat down on the clouds and thought hard on what to do. Memories had begun to flow back. She remembered the good times with her friends in Ponyville, the adventures they’d had. She remembered how they’d hung out all around town, and laughed and just had fun. And then Dash remembered Applejack. Although things had gone bad three years ago, it wasn’t until recently Rainbow Dash had even been able to stop thinking of her. The prospect of maybe seeing her again lodged itself in Rainbow’s mind, bringing with it waves of confusion. Now in the present, lost in thought, Dash missed the first time her name was announced to perform. She might have missed her turn completely, had one of the pegasi from the stadium staff soon come to find her, and prodded her to go out. Dash stepped out into the light of the stadium, thousands of ponies cheering and waving around her. She could distinctly hear several cheering her name. Despite everything, her mind wasn’t here. It had already made its way back to Ponyville, long before her physical form would. With a sigh, Rainbow Dash decided to make the hardest decision of her life. With a flap of her wings, Dash flew up to cloud where the Wonderbolts were sitting. “What’s up Rainbow Dash?” Spitfire asked her. “I’m sorry,” Dash said with a great deal of reluctance, “But as happy as I am for the chance, I’ll have to try again some other time.” Obviously confused, Spitfire tried to ask Rainbow Dash just what exactly what was going on, but was left with a wisp of white cloud as Rainbow Dash rocketed from her spot and shot away towards Ponyville. Soaring over her old home town, Rainbow Dash took in the sights of the changes that had come there since she’d gone two years ago. Although the tracks wound through the town, a new train station had been built on the outskirts, allowing easier travel for those looking to go to Appleoosa or any of the other neighboring cities of Equestria. The one thing that surprised Dash was the site of Sweet Apple acres. Despite the new buildings never being built, a completely new crop of apple trees had sprung up, nearly returning the orchard to its former glory. Dash could only assume that Pinkie Pie and caramel’s work had been the one successful part of the failed plan she’d had back then. When Dash arrived at the building where the funeral was being held, she decided to wait the service out, for fear of causing any sort of incident. She watched through the windows as one pony after another said words in honor of Granny Smith’s memory. Soon, Big Macintosh spoke, and once his words were said, Applejack stood to speak. Next to her, all of their old friends, including Twilight Sparkle sat, solemn expressions across their faces. Fluttershy was visibly more upset than the others, but that didn’t surprise Dash. Before Applejack went up, Twilight levitated a small bag from her back. Dash couldn’t quite make out what it was, but waited to hear what Applejack had to say. “Granny Smith was one of the most wonderful ponies in all of mah life,” Applejack started. Dash sat and watched the mare she’d once loved speak on and on about her grandmother, hanging on to every word she spoke. Dash could feel the sadness welling up inside her, though she couldn’t be sure if it was seeing the orange earth pony again, or the truly sad fact that Granny Smith had passed on. When Applejack was finished, she went over to the coffin where Granny Smith lay, and planted a final kiss on her forehead. Dash couldn’t hear her, but gently, Applejack whispered, “Ah hope ya was proud of me. Ah wish ya could’a met my little Apple…” Applejack couldn’t finish as she began to break down into tears. Big Macintosh and Applebloom came to her sides, and helped her away. Slowly she walked away and took her seat once again by Twilight Sparkle until the rest of the service had concluded. There she was, amidst all their friends and family. Applejack stood, staring silently out the window of Sugarcube Corner. Off in the distance, the apple trees that Dash had passed on her way into town could be seen reaching into the afternoon sky. All Dash could think of was how good she still looked, the briefest signs of age only adding to her beauty. It was only as Dash got closer that she noticed more had happened to Applejack than aging. Rainbow Dash could finally get a clear view of the bag that twilight had taken during the funeral, and it was something Dash hadn’t expected. Nestled in a special carrier on Applejack’s back was a very small cyan earth filly who couldn’t have even been more than a few months old. She slept soundly on her mother’s back, unaware of the grief-stricken ponies around her. The sight of this made Dash even more hesitant to approach her. Thoughts about if Applejack was with anypony else began running through Dash’s mind, giving her the idea that maybe she should just leave before anyone recognized her. She didn’t want to scare Applejack off or cause a fight, especially in the midst of so much grief. Suddenly, a voice from behind surprised Rainbow Dash surprised her. “Hey Rainbow Dash,” Twilight Sparkle approached her cautiously, with Rarity not far behind. “Uh, hey Twilight. I didn’t expect to see you. Or expect you to be talking to me,” Dash said honestly. “I know things weren’t exactly great the last time we saw each other, but I want to start again. I miss my friends more than anything in the world Rainbow Dash. When we all began to split up, I hated myself. I went back to Canterlot with Spike, and confessed everything to the Princess. I was sure she was going to banish me from her court, but all she did was smile and tell me that ‘If I was truly sorry, then all friendships could be mended in time.’ So I came back to Ponyville, and started trying to fix everything. I wasn’t sure you’d be here, but I’ve been thinking of a thousand different things to say to you.” Dash smiled. She hadn’t expected this, but she assumed that it was a similar reason that she had had the opportunity to be so close to Applejack during the funeral. Before Dash could say anything, Rarity came next to Twilight to join the conversation. “Rainbow Dash, you look like you’ve been doing well,” Rarity said formally. “Not bad,” Dash grinned much like she used to, “Been busy as ever with my Wonderbolts training.” “Same old Rainbow Dash,” Rarity beamed, “But Rainbow, I must speak my own apologies. I too was not the best friend I could be before you left Ponyville.” “We never talked between…well you know, and the time Twilight and I broke up.” “Yes, I remembered darling. I had my reasons. To be honest, I was very upset with what you did to Applejack. That much I’m sure you could tell,” Dash nodded as she continued, “ But there was more to it than that. I admit, I was a little jealous.” Dash stood confused for a moment until Rarity get close to Twilight, and nuzzled Twilight’s neck. Twi accepted and closed her eyes as she lifted her head to let Rarity in closer. Dash smirked a bit, a bit surprised by the couple. “Twilight of course still has a lot of learning to do before she is as acceptably proper as myself,” Rarity pulled away and said. Twilight squinted back at the white unicorn, prompting Rarity to smile embarrassedly. Dash turned away to stare back at Applejack, who still remained silent by the window. “She’s not with anyone you know,” Rarity spoke up, instantly aware of what Dash was thinking. “We were all a little surprised to see Applejack back like that,” Twilight admitted, “But wait till you see her! She’s the most adorable little filly.” Twilight realized how awkward things would likely still be between the two, and slunk back after catching her mistake. “Its fine Twi,” Dash told her, “I just want to go talk to her so badly.” “Then go do it!” Rarity gave her a little push, “It’s not hard to tell there’s still something there, Rainbow Dash. You just have to make the first move.” Dash felt a little better after hearing her words, and with a little more confidence, Dash left the two unicorns behind, and headed towards Applejack. The walk to the spot where Applejack stood seemed like an eternity to Rainbow Dash. Everything around her seemed to be moving so slowly. She could see some ponies laughing, others crying. Pinkie Pie and Caramel were chatting with Fluttershy in one corner of the room. Dash hadn’t gotten the chance to see either of them yet, but she feared that if she didn’t make her move now, she wouldn’t ever get the chance. Soon she was standing right behind her, as Applejack continued to stare out the window. “Uh…hey, AJ,” Dash squeaked out. Applejack jumped at the sound of Dash’s voice, clearly not expecting to hear it. The little filly yawned, and rolled over in her bag, but remained asleep. “R-Rainbow Dash! Ah…Ah didn’t expect to see….who told ya what happened?” she stammered. “Big Macintosh,” Dash said confidently, watching Applejack’s eyes gaze around until she centered on her brother and stared daggers into him. “ Ah don’t know if…” Applejack trailed off, clearly at a loss for words. “Look, I know now’s not exactly a good time, but I want to talk AJ. I don’t want to cause any trouble though,” Dash told her. Applejack sighed. Her mind was racing, being face to face with her old lover again. In the emotional state she was in, she really didn’t need the surprise at the moment. “Alright, meet me outside in five minutes,” Applejack told her. Dash nodded and started for the door. When she was sure Rainbow had left, Applejack went and found Big Macintosh. He’d joined the conversation with Pinkie and Fluttershy, clearly trying to resolve whatever issues his leaving had caused between him and the yellow Pegasus. Applejack pulled him aside for a moment. “Ya’ll told Rainbow Dash?” Applejack said, tears in her eyes resulting from a mixture of the shock of seeing Dash, and the pain she was already feeling from losing Granny Smith. “Now Applejack, ya’ll know Granny Smith would have wanted her here too. She loved all the ponies of Ponyville.” For a moment Applejack looked hurt and confused, but all she could do was accept the fact that her brother was right. “Yeah, I guess,” Applejack said quietly. Big Mac smiled, and raised his hoof to pat Applejack’s shoulder. He gave her a brief hug, then reached over and stroked the mane of the sleeping filly. “No matter what, she’d a been proud of ya,” Big Macintosh said. Outside, Applejack walked up to Rainbow Dash, trying to keep herself from getting too close to the Pegasus. She wanted comfort, but at the moment she wasn’t so sure she wanted it from Rainbow Dash. “So…” Applejack said, lifting her hoof to wipe the tears away. “So…” Dash trailed off too, “How’ve things been?” “Good…well, not really,” she glanced back to check on the little filly, who still remained asleep. “AJ, I’ve waited a long time to tell you this, but I’m sorry,” Dash started quickly. “There were so many times I wanted to tell you, and just couldn’t. I was going nuts. Then Twilight kissed me and…” Much like the last time Dash had seen her, Applejack swung her hoof and smacked Dash in the face, sending Rainbow Dash spiraling into the dirt. “Ouch, what was that?” Dash asked her. “More Ah should’a given ya two years ago,” Applejack replied scornfully. Dash took a few moments to recover, continuing to remain on the ground. “I never said I wanted your forgiveness,” Dash began again, not even completely off of the ground yet. “Ah never said Ah wouldn’t forgive ya,” Applejack cut in, “But did ya think it would be that easy? After everythin’ we was already going through, and you dropped that on me?” Dash felt like everything had picked back up, right from where it had been two years earlier. To her, it felt almost right. More tears began to form in Applejack’s eyes, “Why couldn’t ya tell me, sugarcube? Even Ah don’t think ya could’a expected something like that to happen. Ya were driving yourself crazy over an accident. Don’t think Ah realized that right away either, Ah’ve had a long time to think.” Dash wasn’t sure what to make of her words. It sounded like Applejack was forgiving her, calling it all an accident. But the rift between them didn’t seem any less big. “And Ah’ve been through a lot.” Dash looked to Applejack’s back, where the little cyan filly continued to sleep. “This is Apple Blitz,” Applejack told Dash, smiling as the little filly finally began to stir. “But how AJ?” Dash asked. “Ah was pretty torn up about ya, so when Ah passed through Trottingham, I ran into a stallion. He was a Pegasus, the exact same color as you. His mane was only red, but I couldn’t help but see you in him everytime I looked at him. So Ah got close to him, and just sort of pretended it was you. This stallion was a far cry from ya Rainbow Dash. I guess I’m just not that into the opposite sex,” she said with a small smile. “He left me anyhow, before Ah knew she was comin’.” “So…all this time, you still thought about me?” Dash couldn’t help but grin a little, although part of that came from her ego. “A-A-Ah wanted to work things out, but I heard ya left Ponyville after a while. Fluttershy said you an Twi still kept a thing goin’ for a bit too.” Dash looked away at that. She figured it would come back to haunt her eventually. “It wasn’t much AJ, I kept trying to find you the whole time,” Dash tried to tell her. “We were apart,” Applejack replied, “Ah can’t hold ya for what ya’ll did after I was gone.” “Ah loved ya Rainbow Dash…Ah…Ah still love ya,” Applejack could barely hold in her tears. Everything of the day had finally begun to take its toll, and Applejack dropped to the ground, taking care to not shift her foal too much. She sobbed into the dirt as Dash had seen her do before. Rainbow Dash approached her, wanting to hold her in her time of need. Dash sat down on the ground and wrapped her front legs around Applejack’s neck, pulling her gaze up to stare into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. “Applejack…I’m so sorry, for everything,” Dash started, “But…I want to try and start again. I’ve thought about you for so long. And now you’re here, and I’m here, and I can’t stand to lose you again.” With those words, Applejack thrust herself forward and kissed Rainbow Dash in what Dash would alter call the most amazing kiss she’d ever experienced. The two locked their lips together for several minutes. Happiness overflowed through Dash, and Applejack could feel the tears that were pouring down Rainbow’s face streaming from Dash’s cheeks and down her own muzzle. Finally they pulled apart, and everything seemed alright. After a few moments in which both mare’s processed what had just happened, Applejack and Rainbow Dash both lifted themselves off the ground. She looked back at her filly, who was now wide awake, and looked somewhat confused at what had just happened in front of her. Applejack knew she was too young to really know anything yet, but the look on Apple Blitz’s face made her chuckle. The filly lifted her head up and yawned, flinging her tiny blonde mane over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash could see tiny red streaks that ran through it. The filly opened her eyes to reveal two big green orbs that made Dash’s heart melt. Applejack, with a little bit of fidgeting, unstrapped the pack from her back, and let Apple Blitz out onto the earth for a few minutes. She tried to stand on wobbly legs, but soon fell down with all four legs spread in different directions. The dust she kicked up made her sneeze. She shook the her tiny head and rolled over on her back, and began to play with her tail, much like Rarity’s cat did as a kitten. Both mare’s couldn’t help but smile at the little filly. “So one more try?” Dash said, sounding happier than she had in a long time. “No more tries, sugarcube,” Applejack told her, “It’s going to work this time.” Behind them, the four other friends of the two stared out the windows of Sugarcube Corner, watching as the two mares kissed again, painting a beautiful picture as the sun set behind them. “Ah love you, Dash,” Applejack said sweetly. “Ah love you too,” Dash replied. Together, they watched the sun set as Apple Blitz rolled around in the dirt. In the distance, Sweet Apple acres looked nearly as beautiful as it once had. Applejack hoped that the future would be full of happy memories, like the ones she’d shared with everyone not so long ago, in her Old Apple Acres Home. (Author’s Note: Well, I hope everyone enjoyed it. I’ve got a lot of errors to go back and fix, and there are still alternate endings and a new fic I’m starting soon after this, so this will still have a few updates. Thanks so much to my prereader Zev, who started about halfway through and it really shows how much better he is at proofreading this than I am. Again, thanks to all my readers, and I hope you continue to read whatever I come out with next.) Extra Chapter: Story TimeIt was another night in Ponyville, and much like every other night, the residents were retiring into their houses for some well deserved rest. For Applejack, even though a week had passed since the funeral, it still felt very strange to have Rainbow Dash back in her life again. It was still a good feeling though, no longer having to think about how empty she had felt inside for so long. Another strange feeling to her was that they were once again staying in Twilight’s library; somewhere three years ago she would have sworn she would never set foot in again, and just over a week ago wouldn’t have ever imagined to be sharing the room with Rainbow Dash again. With another round of apologies, Twilight had welcomed Rainbow Dash back in almost immediately. Dash had been unsure of staying in the library again. Aside from the bad memories from the night Applejack had left Ponyville, Dash also had the extra emotional baggage left over from the year she spent with Twilight. Despite accepting all the apologies, and even finding herself very happy for her friend now that she was with Rarity, she couldn’t help but to look back on that time with some disdain. However, Dash knew Twilight was still her friend, and since things were improving, she wanted to try and leave the past where it was. And now it was eight in the evening, and Rainbow Dash was just coming in from grabbing a few items from the market in Ponyville Square. She nudged the door into the room slowly open, and looked in on the most beautiful mare she’d ever known. Her eyes locked with Applejack’s green glinting eyes as she walked in. A rustling next to her made Dash glance down, as the cutest filly she’d ever laid eyes rolled over next to her mother and laid flat on the bed, staring up with her own pair of big green orbs. “No luck getting her to bed?” Dash asked, realizing how obvious the answer to the question was. “This lil’ one ain’t sleepin’ fer nothin’,” Applejack said and smiled as the cyan filly rolled over onto her back and swung her legs back and forth as if trying to run on the air. “Maybe Twilight’s got a book we can read ta her,” Applejack said. Rainbow shrugged, deciding it couldn’t hurt. Applejack climbed down from the bed, then reached out her hoof and scooped the little filly off the bed, placing her gently on her back. The cyan filly began to playfully tug on her mother’s mane as she trotted into the library, Rainbow following closely behind her. Twilight was still up, studying some sort of text given to her by Princess Celestia. “Applejack! I thought you had gone to bed already,” Twilight perked up at the sight. The purple unicorn walked over to the mother and daughter, and put her face close to Apple Blitz’s. Blitz stared back with her wide eyes, seeming to analyze every little bit of Twilight that she could. Twilight lit up with the biggest grin. Even Dash couldn’t help but grin at how adorable the filly could be. “She’s just too cute, Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed, “I can’t get over it.” “Yeah, Ah know,” Applejack blushed a little, “Say, Twi, Ah was lookin’ for a certain book to read to the little one here tonight.” “Oh? What was it called?” Twilight asked, especially curious as she couldn’t remember Applejack having ever checked out a book from her, now or from the days before she left Ponyville. “Ah think it was called “A Pony’s Requiem” or somethin’ like that,” Applejack told her, “Ah used to read it ta Applebloom when she was just a foal too.” “Of course I have that one,” Twilight bounded over to a shelf of books, and began scanning the spines for the right one. Applejack continued to wait as Twilight went from shelf to shelf, trying to remember exactly where she had last seen it. Meanwhile, Apple Blitz got herself tangled in the braids of Applejack’s hair. AJ laughed, and sat down to begin pulling the filly out from the golden strands. Apple Blitz began to whimper as she tried her best to free herself. Dash lifted herself into the air, and pulled Apple Blitz up by her red-streaked mane, freeing her from the remaining tangles, and sitting her gently on the floor. “Success!” Twilight exclaimed, making Applejack jump a little bit in surprise. Twilight levitated the book from its hole on one of the high shelves, and sat it down on the table. Dash clamped the book gently between her teeth, and fluttered back towards the bedroom. “Many thanks Twilight,” Applejack said happily. Twilight shut her eyes and grinned from ear to ear. She walked over to them again, and stroked Apple Blitz’s tiny mane, admiring the bright red streaks that ran through the mane that otherwise matched her mother’s, pulled back into a small ponytail and all. Giving Applejack a hand, Twilight levitated the little filly, who looked a bit surprised to be almost flying, back onto her mother’s back for the trip back to the room. With another happy look, Twilight watched as they retired back into their room for the rest of the night. Moments later with the covers pulled down and pillows neatly arranged so the little filly wouldn’t roll off of the bed during the night, Applejack laid down next to her daughter while Rainbow Dash laid at the foot of the bed, ready to read her a bedtime story. “Your Aunt Applebloom loved this story when she was a filly,” Applejack said softly to Apple Blitz, who was sitting on one of the fluffy white pillows next to her mother and staring at the cover of the book. “Are you sure you want me to read this, AJ?” Dash asked “Ah’course Sugarcube,” Applejack said sweetly, “If ya’ll wants to be part of our lives, ya gotta learn ta do things like this.” Applejack knew Blitz was too young to even begin to understand the book, and would likely fall asleep at the sound of anypony talking after a while, but she liked the idea of reading again since there had come a time when Applebloom didn’t think it was cool to be getting read bedtime stories anymore. “Alright,” Dash began, “This is the story of Zev…” Sometimes things happen without warning, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sometimes even the most unwilling pony can be thrown into a situation they never dreamed they’d be a part of. For one pony, such a situation came upon him nearly a thousand years ago, on the eve of Nightmare Moon’s rise. The city of Canterlot appeared even larger than the teal-maned pony had expected. He’d been surprised when he’d received a letter from the royal pony sisters, asking him to perform his music at this year’s Summer Sun Celebration. He really hadn’t expected to have such an honor bestowed upon him, but as it turned out, while visiting Maresfield on one of her annual trips, Princess Celestia had seen him play his guitar at a small eatery that one of her students had invited her to, and while he hadn’t had interacted with Celestia personally, he must have made a good impression on the sun princess. With his guitar slung over his back, the charcoal colored pony strolled his way into the city. Several brightly colored fillies ran by him, flowing streamers with bright yellow suns drawn on them clutched firmly in between their teeth. The pony smiled as he continued on, headed for the large castle at the heart of the city. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- His name was Zev, and despite the length of time it’d taken him a long time to obtain his quarter rest cutie mark, he’d known nearly all his life what he’d wanted to do. He knew that this could be the defining moment in his life, the point where everything turned around, and he finally received much wider recognition. He’d been practicing for weeks since he’d been invited, and he was sure that he couldn’t be more ready. Now he was standing at the gates of the Canterlot Castle, ready for his night to begin. Zev trotted up through the main gate, past several guards clad in golden armor that glinted brightly in Celestia’s warm sunlight. Many other ponies were crowding in as well, ready for the all night party that would end at dawn, when all of Canterlot could witness Luna bringing down her moon, and Celestia bringing the sun up for the new day. Zev could hear them talking all around him, each pony talking about something they wished to take part in over the course of the celebration. Zev only wanted to find the pony in charge of the entertainment. After a few moments, Zev chanced asking one of the guards if they had any idea where he was supposed to go. The guard was nice enough show him to a smaller entrance, usually only used by the guards and servants to the princesses, and soon Zev was inside the castle, waiting on a silver-maned unicorn levitating a clipboard in front of his face to give him his info. “Hmmm, Zev,” the pony said, turning over page after page, squinting his eyes at each row of words written on the papers. “Ah yes, here you are. You’ll be playing on the main stage at five a.m., last act of the night before it is time for Princess Luna to lower the moon. “ Zev thanked him for the information, and decided to head back outside for a bit. He wanted to find a nice place to relax for a while he waited for night to fall. He glanced around for a moment, then noticed the castle gardens, which drew in many a wild animal, but not many ponies seemed to be interested in seeing. Zev made his way towards them quickly, avoiding much contact with anypony else. Once inside, he searched around for a nice place to rest. It didn’t take long before he found a large tree, crawling with all varieties of small, furry animals. It felt right to him, so he plopped down into the soft grass, and gently swung the guitar case from his back, and placed it beside him. As an earth pony, he’d become quite proficient with his hooves on making sure his guitar was finely tuned, and so there he sat, making sure his guitar would sound perfect, and relaxing in the cool summer breeze. Before long, he passed out under the warm summer sun. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Zev awoke, Luna’s moon was high in the sky. He wasn’t entirely sure what time it was, so he packed up his belongings and got ready to head to the party that was already in full swing. Before leaving, Zev turned back to the tree he’d been resting under. He craned his neck to reach his saddlebag, and pulled a small knife out with his teeth. Gently, he carved his own name into the bark. “For when I’m gone, some ponies will still be able to remember my name,” he said to himself with a smile before putting the knife back and heading toward the party. When he arrived back at the front doors leading inside the palace, he noticed a large clock that told him the time was one-thirty; he still had a few hours before his set. After walking inside, he saw several large rooms, each decorated with banners and streamers of warm colors where ponies of all colors and sizes were participating in a variety of activities. He knew he was to play on the main stage, which was set up in the main ballroom; a circular room surrounded by columns that separated various hallways which lead to many of the castle’s other chambers. It didn’t take him long to find it. He walked around, looking at all the regal ponies and more common ponies alike, some talking of a variety of topics, others dancing to the music being played by the group of ponies that were currently on stage. However, as Zev went fromroom to room, he quickly noticed that something seemed to be missing from the festivities: the Royal Pony Sisters. He was surprised that neither one was seen mingling with their subjects. He found a guard that was stationed near one of the castle stairwells, and got in close to the Pegasus pony. “Hey, uhm, Mr. Guard, any chance you know where the Princesses might be tonight?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. “That is private information!” the guard snapped, making Zev stumble back in surprise. Zev didn’t bother pressing this particular guard further. For a moment he considered why he would even care, but he realized that after receiving such an honor as to perform during the celebration, he’d be a little disappointed if neither of Equestria’s rulers were able to see his performance. Before Zev could continue to think on the matter, his stomach began to rumble, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since arriving in Canterlot earlier that day. He decided that maybe he’d see what the finest Canterlot chef’s had prepared for the occasion. First though, Zev decided to head backstage and drop off his instrument and bags. It didn’t take long for him to find a spot for his things, and soon he was munching down rose soufflé, mini-bluegrass sandwiches, and dandelion ice cream. He sat all alone at one of the few empty tables in the dining hall of the castle, enjoying each passing moment as his stomach became fuller and fuller. When he was finally finished, he clasped a napkin between his hooves, and wiped away the bits and pieces that had fallen onto his charcoal colored coat. He sat for a long while, lost in many thoughts. He found it hard to believe he wasn’t the least bit scared of performing just before Celestia’s big appearance, and yet the fact neither Royal Sister had shown up all night made him feel strangely uneasy. Still he wondered if he was just being paranoid, as he hadn’t heard the issue spoken of amongst the crowds of other ponies. He continued to think for a long while, letting his mind run free with the best and worst scenarios he could think of. He’d finally managed to get his food from the royal buffet at around two, and by the time he finally snapped back to reality, it was just turning four. Realizing the time, he tossed his trash into a bin near the entrance to the dining hall, and headed back for his things. When he got there, he quickly began tuning up his instrument and started to strum out a few chords, making sure he had everything perfect. His guitar was very different from the one’s most ponies played. Too many musical ponies were unicorns who had the advantage of magic to aid them, but Zev had modified his own so that the strings were spaced well enough to accommodate his hooves, while not sacrificing a bit of the quality any other version of the instrument would have. Putting the princesses out of his mind, he began to worry that his music wouldn’t be as well liked as any of the other artists that had gone on before him. Maybe everypony was tired of the entertainment by now, ready to see Celestia finally raise the sun. What if he had a technical problem halfway through his set, or what if something happened to him? All these thoughts swam through his mind, making him more and more paranoid before his performance. He already knew hundreds, maybe thousands, of ponies came from all over Equestria to take part in the festivities when they were held in Canterlot, so he couldn’t help but think he would have a lot to live up to. Zev took a deep breath and held it for a few moments. He exhaled and tried to calm himself, trying to put his mind at ease. He knew that regardless if any of his fears were true, if he went out on stage in such a state he’d likely put on the worst show of his life regardless. He closed his eyes, and propping the guitar between his forelegs, he began to play one a song that always seemed to get the best response from his crowds. He called it “Do I Deserve a Requiem When I’m Gone?”, and despite the somber nature, his crowds always seemed to love it. After running through it entirely, Zev opened his eyes, refreshed and relaxed. His confidence returning, he began to strum out another one of his tunes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not long after, the group that had been onstage came walking through the back, each pony smiling and chatting about the cheers and applause they’d received from the audience. A pegasus dressed in formal attire followed them, finding Zev at the ready to head up to the stage. “Last show of evening,” the formal pony said, “Zeke, Zurg…what’s your name again?” “Zev,” he replied cooly. “Well Zev, I’m going to go announce you, and then you come up and be ready to start. Princess Celestia should be beginning the ceremony at six, so you need to be done before then. No exception!” Zev nodded, and watched as he trotted back through the stage entrance. Zev waited anxiously until he heard the announcer calling him to come out. Claps and a few cheers preceded his entrance, giving him hope that this wouldn’t go too badly after all. He pulled up a chair to the front of the stage, and sat on his flank, with his feet dangling to the ground as he held his guitar between his forelegs. It was a most unusual way for anypony to sit, but it felt natural to Zev. He decided not to address the crowd, and slowly took one more deep breath. He exhaled, and began to play. Dash looked up from the book, glancing over at Apple Blitz, who had long been asleep. She smiled at how cute the little filly looked curled up on her own little pillow, and was amazed by how loud she could snore at such a young age. She then glanced over to Applejack and got ready to close the book, but Applejack reached out a hoof and stopped her. “Keep on readin’ hun,” Applejack whispered, trying to keep from waking her daughter. “But she’s already asleep,” Dash replied. “Plus, this is probably the longest time I’ve ever spent reading anything that wasn’t a comic book.” Applejack chuckled, trying to restrain herself from making too much noise. “Ah know, but I just like to listen to ya.” Dash blushed, her face becoming as red as the streak in her mane. Quickly she tried to act cool about it, and dug her head back into the book. From there she continued reading. When five-forty-five rolled around, Zev was finishing his final song, the one he’d played to calm his nerves not long before. When he was finished, he looked up at the crowd, who took no time in erupting into cheers. His audience had grown significantly from the time he started, as many other ponies had begun to filter in from the other rooms, knowing Celestia was set to address everyone from the main stage before it was time to raise the sun. Zev stood, and took a small bow, before exiting off stage. Other ponies that had performed that night were also back stage, and congratulated him for putting on such a wonderful performance. He nodded, not one to let himself get carried away too much by the praise. He quickly found the rest of his things again, and carefully put his guitar away, then slung his bags back over his back. He wasn’t sure he wanted to stay and watch the sunrise. After all, despite getting to watch Princess Celestia use her magic, it would still be the same sunrise everypony in Equestria would see every day. With his belongings now loaded up, Zev decided to head for the main hallway leading to castle doors that would get him on his way out of Canterlot. As he started to leave, he noticed another clock that had been set-up for the artists waiting to go onstage, that told him it was now six in the morning. Seeing the time, he decided that he may as well stick around to see the princesses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By six-fifteen, many of the ponies in the ballroom were getting anxious. Luna’s moon was still high in the sky, and there was no sign of Princess Celestia yet. Suddenly, a massive blast rocked the castle, sending several of the guests into a frenzy. Before anyone could leave ; however, the castle doors swung open with great force, startling many of the ponies nearby. Zev could not see this, but he could hear the cries from the main hallway. Soon everypony had turned to watch as a tall, dark figure marched its way down the hallway towards the ballroom. They moved back in fear, creating a path straight to the main stage for whomever was coming to walk down. Reaching the light of the ballroom, everpony’s gaze fell upon a tall black alicorn wearing blue armor, who had the strangest teal-colored eyes. She glanced around at all the different looks she was getting from the guests. She arrived at the main stage and flew up onto it, the regal Pegasus who’d been announcing the musical acts scrambling away before she landed. “Do none of you recognize me, now that I have become the true mare I was meant to be?” she asked, and nopony offered a response. “Surely you don’t recognize your dear Princess Luna? However, that is no longer my name!” Gasps escaped from the crowds at hearing this had been the smaller alicorn that had stood beside her sister for so long. “You may now all call me Nightmare Moon! And I am here to bring an end to the wretched sunlight that poisons the minds of ponies everywhere! When can any of you say you truly looked up and appreciated the beauty of my moon in the night sky? You will all appreciate it now. And where is my sister you ask? She has fled from Canterlot, too afraid of the power I have gained to stand against me! Surely nopony else would dare to try and stop me?” Soon the ballroom was in a panic as ponies began to flee in every direction, Nightmare Moon laughing loudly over the cries of the ponies. Zev found himself caught up in the chaos, unsure of which way to go. He began to move back towards the main hallway to try and make his way out through the front. Meanwhile, a squad of Pegasus guards flew over his head, ready to stand against Nightmare Moon. Whipping her starry mane back and forth created a great wind, which sent the pegasi flying backwards and crashing through several of the palace windows. Nightmare Moon continued to laugh in triumph. Soon, Nightmare Moon began to glance around through the mobs of ponies trying to squeeze down the hallways towards the exits. She wanted to find a pony to toy with, to show them the extent of her powers so that they would spread the word about just what Nightmare Moon was capable of, and what she would do if they didn’t start appreciating her beautiful eternal night. Amidst them all, she saw a teal mane against a charcoal coat, and decided to levitate that pony to her. Zev felt the magic begin to wrap around his body as he was pulled out of the throngs of gueats that were slowly cramming their bodies into the already jammed hallway. He struggled with all his might to free himself, but whatever magic was being used was far too strong for an earth pony like him to break through. Soon he was face to face with Nightmare Moon. “Ah, a musician. An admirable profession, especially for the less talented Earth ponies. Tell me your name,” Nightmare Moon commanded. “Zev,” he said weakly, trying to not show any fear as he stared into the slits that were Nightmare Moon’s pupils. In reality, Zev had never been more terrified. Being held so close to the alicorn, he was sure she was going to murder him very soon. Nightmare Moon released the magic she was using, dropping Zev to the ground on his hooves, and looked down upon his unchanging expression. “You don’t seem to fear me pony,” Nightmare Moon observed out loud, “Are you not afraid of what I could do to you?” “No,” Zev stated, again trying to seal his fear away. He was sure if he showed any sign of weakness against the alicorn she would surely destroy him without hesitation. “Hmmm, play me a song musician,” Nightmare Moon commanded of him. In a flash, Zev had tossed his guitar case from his back, and was pulling the instrument out in no time. Since he’d just played it less than an hour before, he didn’t bother trying to tune it. He didn’t figure the alicorn would give him long anyway. Just as he began to play, a starry blue cloud of magic formed around his guitar, pulling it from his hooves and began to wave it wildly in the air. Nightmare Moon cackled as she whipped it back and forth, finally sending it down with a sickening crack against the hard castle floor. The instrument shattered into a hundred pieces in front of Zev’s icy-blue eyes. In his mind, he was sure the loud crack he’d heard was his own heart, watching the one thing he loved most shatter before him. Nightmare Moon continued to laugh as Zev stood motionless before her. He couldn’t speak, he could only stare at his life on the floor. A hatred he’d never felt before began to bubble inside him, flowing through his chest and surging across the rest of his body. He turned towards the alicorn, a new fire burning inside his soul. With all his might, Zev charged at Nightmare Moon, lowering his head and bracing for impact. He struck her hard in her ribs, sending her toppling off stage as she let out a cry of surprise. Zev stood tall on the edge of the stage, panting from the energy he’d manage to unleash upon her. It didn’t take long for Nightmare Moon to regain her balance, looking no worse for wear. “You foalish colt, how dare you even think to touch the royal form of Nightmare Moon?!” lightning struck around her as she spoke, nearly missing Zev by inches. Before he could try and attack again or make an escape, Nightmare Moon transformed herself into a black cloud of smoke, which quickly whirled around Zev, lifting him from the stage and bringing him high above the castle floor. The smoke began to speed its rotation around him, faster and faster, until it flung him with excessive force against on the castle walls. Before he could plummet to the floor below, it caught him in mid-air, performing the same tactic and slinging him across the room, through a statue of the Royal Pony Sisters, and into the opposite wall. As he collided with it, Zev could taste the pool of blood that had begun to pool in his mouth. Then down he fell, but was again picked up by Nightmare Moon and thrown again, this time sending him crashing through one of the remaining windows. As he tumbled through the air he could see the castle getting further and further away, soon seeing a large amount of green coming closer and closer. He landed hard in the castle gardens, not far from where he had napped hours before. Many of the curious animals that lived there began to poke their heads out to look or scamper toward Zev to find out why a pony had fallen there. Suddenly the black smoke whooshed into the field, sending many of the animals back into hiding. Zev tried his best to look up as the black form of Nightmare Moon once again towered over him. “You were very brave to attack me musician,” she said honestly, “But it is a mistake that could not go unpunished. Surely you wouldn’t dare to pursue this little vendetta any further would you?” Zev lay against the ground, his flank and hind legs sticking upwards toward the sky, his head and front legs limp. He said nothing to the black alicorn. He didn’t want to speak to her. His mind was already flooded with memories, from the first time he’d laid hooves on his guitar, to when he’d finally been able to make the modifications he wanted, to his first live performance. He’d never felt such love for anypony or anything else as he had his guitar, and the mare standing over him had taken it all away. Truly, he was sure he no longer cared what she did to him, any threat she made against his life was nearly hollow, as he had already lost what was most precious to him. Slowly, he lifted one of his front legs and tried to stand. Pain shot through his side as he tried to steady his weight. He was sure he had some bones broken somewhere, but the pain was of little concern to him. He gritted his teeth and stomped his hoof with his good leg, ready to challenge Nightmare Moon again as he rose. Finally, standing as tall as he could, Zev tried to gallop head on at the alicorn once again. His legs however did not cooperate, and he found himself crashing head first into her legs. The hit did not phase Nightmare Moon yet again. “Tsk tsk, little pony. I guess I can’t make you learn. Oh well,” and with that her horn glowed, and Zev was soon sent spiraling through trees and shrubs, slamming into birds nests and beehives, and breaking through several branches until he finally slammed hard into a very large tree. His back began to throb from the hit as he once again fell to the ground. His vision blurry, he tried to get a glimpse of where he was. He found himself able to make out a single word carved into the tree he’d collided with: Zev. He’d been thrown into the tree he had napped under not long ago. He realized he might be sleeping even longer under it very soon. He tried to move, but not one part of his body would cooperate. His gaze began to get worse, everything going dark and coming back to him in rapid succession. A pounding in his head stopped him from hearing the sound of hoofsteps as the black mare approached him from the woods. His vision leaving, and then again returning he saw her standing over him, a look of anger on her face. His vision blacked again, just in time for him not to see the hoof of Nightmare Moon slamming quickly down towards his head. Dash shut the book. “Gosh, Ah can’t believe Applebloom loved that book so much,” Applejack said, “It ain’t very happy, that’s fer sure.” Dash nodded. In her mind, she imagined Zev, a cool pony like herself, only he was what she might have been if she hadn’t been able to help harness the Elements of Harmony. It was quite a sad story. Applejack had kept Dash reading to her for over an hour since Apple Blitz had dozed off. There was more to the story, Princess Celestia returning to the castle with the Elements of Harmony that had been taken from their old castle in the Everfree Forest, the site where the sisters had fought Discord long before. And then the story followed the traditional “Mare in the Moon” story from there. Regardless, Dash had picked a good point to stop, as both mares were beginning to find themselves very tired. Dash pulled a blanket and a pillow down to the floor, letting Applejack share the bed with Apple Blitz, and got ready to lie down. Before she could however, she felt a hoof poke her in the chin, and pull her back up to eye level with Applejack. The orange mare leaned in and kissed Dash passionately. It was one of many they’d shared over the past week, but it always felt amazing. They held it long, neither wanting to break away, both wishing such a moment could last forever. Finally Applejack pulled back, her face glowing with happiness. Dash leaned back in and kissed her on her freckled cheek, before sliding back down into the floor. Applejack curled up next to her tiny filly, and kissed her on the head. Before long, Applejack was snoring right alongside her daughter, and Dash was sleeping peacefully nearby. It may have been coincidence, something that in a world of magic such as Equestria does not happen often, that Princess Luna was taking a walk through the Royal Gardens outside her palace. She’d come to spot she hadn’t visit in over a thousand years. A large tree grew from the spot, now the biggest tree in the gardens. On it was inscribed a single word. A name; Zev. Luna stared at the spot for a long time, lost in her thoughts. Before long, Celestia came to join her. “We hate what we did to him, sister,” Luna said sadly as Celestia wrapped a loving wing around her. “Things were different then. Something made you different. It’s not your fault Luna,” Celestia said in a comforting voice. Using her magic, Celestia picked a rose from a nearby bush, and laid it under the tree as a small memorial. With her magic, Luna carved the shape of a guitar, one nearly identical to the one the pony was known for playing, into the bark below his name. Luna managed a smile as Celestia pulled her away, leading them back towards the palace, and leaving behind the testament that a pony named Zev had tried to stand against Nightmare Moon, and that despite everything he lost, he did get one thing he always wanted: to be remembered forever. My Old Apple Acre Home Part 1The sun was rising over Sweet Apple Acres, as Applejack stirred from a peaceful sleep. She climbed out of bed and walked to the window. She lightly nudged the shutters open and watched as the beautiful golden streaks washed across the orange morning sky. It was the clearest morning she had seen in quite some time. “G’mornin’ Sweet Apple Acres,” she whispered, smiling as all the colors of the morning shined gloriously before her. The big red apples glistened from the morning dew, making the trees sparkle like orange holiday lights. It was times like this Applejack could not think of anywhere she would rather be. Of course none of this would have been possible had it not been for Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus pony sat on a cloud high above Applejack’s window. She let out a sigh and grinned at her hard work. She knew Applejack loved these kind of mornings, and had done everything she could to make it look its best. Unfortunately this had also taken up the part of her sleep time, and she was exhausted. Still, she could imagine Applejack’s bright green eyes shimmering against the sunlight, with a big smile on her face. All for my best friend, she thought happily to herself. She decided to drop down and surprise Applejack. What Rainbow Dash hadn’t expected is how much the early morning work had taken its toll on her body. Extremely tired and barely able to stay aloft, Rainbow Dash’s wings tensed up, and she plummeted right past Applejack’s window and to the ground below. “Now what in tarna—Rainbow Dash! Ya sure are here early,” Applejack called down, peering over the side of the windowsill. “Ouch,” Dash said, rubbing her head. Rainbow Dash stood up and got her bearings then flew up slowly to Applejack’s window. Applejack stepped back and let the Pegasus pony inside. “Well now, Ah’d a never expected ya to be out this early, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack told her with an amused smile on her face. “Beautiful morning, isn’t it,” Dash tried to say while remaining cool, but gave a large yawn right after. “Why a’course it is, ‘specially when somepony stays out all night trying to make it for ya,” Applejack trotted over to Rainbow Dash and gave her a hug. “But ya don’t do this just fer anypony, or fer me very often either. So what’s this about Rainbow Dash?” Dash blushed a little and nodded to the calendar. Applejack walked over and took a look at the date. “It’s the day we first met AJ. I’d never forget it.” “Ah’d never forget that. That there day was terrible.” The two ponies had a good laugh. Applejack turned back to look as Celestia’s sun rose higher and higher into the sky. She got ready to thank Rainbow Dash, and turned around to find Dash curled up on her floor fast asleep. Applejack smiled and pulled the sheet from her bed and draped it over Rainbow Dash. “T’aint as comfy as them clouds ya like so much, but I hope it’ll do ya for now,” Applejack whispered, then headed out of her room. “Sleep tight, sugarcube,” she said and headed down for breakfast. After a few hours, Rainbow Dash woke up. The floor of the farmhouse had not been soft, but Dash had had few sleeps that had been better. She stretched her wings and fluttered to the window, looking towards the sun to get a good idea of the time. It was nearly midday, so Rainbow Dash was sure Applejack was selling apples down at Ponyville Square. She wanted to thank her for letting her crash unexpectedly in her room for the past few hours. Rainbow Dash flipped her rainbow mane over her back, and soared out of Applejack’s window and headed towards town. As she soared along, she could see AJ’s brother, Big Macintosh, bucking apples below. Granny Smith sat by the barn, rattling on about something or another, oblivious to if anyone else was really listening at all. Fluttershy had come by to help Applejack, and Dash could see her fluttering around the trees, speaking with her animal friends about why there were better places to nest and eat than in the orchard. She also caught sight of the Cutie Mark Crusaders scurrying off into the trees towards their club house. Rainbow Dash had to admit, for all the beauty she had seen in Cloudsdale, Sweet Apple Acres could be a breath-taking sight in its own right. But in all its beauty, right now it was missing one thing: Applejack. ___________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how long it’d been since she’d realized her feelings for Applejack, but once she had, they’d been there to stay. She never tried to even hint about them to Applejack, afraid of what her best friend would even say to her, but whenever they would spend time together, Dash couldn’t be happier. She glided low as she came into town, and landed in front of Sugarcube Corner. Before she had even folded her wings, Pinkie Pie burst through the window of the shop. “Oh Rainbow Dash it’s been so long since I’ve seen you which was just yesterday but that feels so long and I thought maybe you might just fly off someday and never come back and we’d all be so sad but here you are right here right!” Pinkie rambled on and on. “It’s nice to see you too, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash chuckled and then asked, “You seen Applejack around?” “Oh of course I see her around all the time and we need to bake better cupcakes because last time wasn’t so great but I know this time will be but I think she was going to try and sell today by Rarity’s shop!” Dash thanked her and headed out. Pinkie seemed extra Pinkie today, and Dash wasn’t sure she could handle all that Pinkie right now, especially with so much on her mind. After a short walk she found Applejack’s cart, piled high with its usual sweets. Three fillies had just finished buying some apple crumb cake when Rainbow Dash came up. “Mornin’ sleepy head!” Applejack grinned, “Hopin’ the floor wasn’ too uncomfortable fer ya.” “No, of course not, never slept better!” she stretched out and bared her teeth. This may have sounded like a lie to Applejack, but Dash couldn’t have been more serious. “But, heya…thanks,” Dash managed to tell her, trying not to blush over the fact she kept thinking about her feelings. “Ah, a’int nothin’ I wouldn’t do fer anypony,” Applejack told her. Dash’s heart sank a little at this. She knew she was Applejack’s best friend, but was she really just anypony too? “Off ta do more trainin’ fer the Wonderbolts today?” “Naw, work today. Tomorrow is the scheduled shower, and I’ve got to help make more clouds,” Dash said, trying her best to cover her slight depression. Another group of hungry ponies wandered up to Applejack’s cart, so Rainbow Dash thought it best she bid her friend farewell and get to work. She didn’t get far into the air when she heard somepony yelling at about a problem. Rainbow Dash pushed through a group of clouds to see an older Pegasus colt barking orders at a very bewildered Derpy Hooves. “I told you exactly what we had to do up here today, Derpy! You can’t party in Ponyville and hang out in Cloudsdale all day. You’re on the weather team today, and you gotta contribute like the rest of us. And this is UNACCEPTABLE!” the colt continued to raise his voice as Derpy sat staring almost blankly, unfazed by the insults being thrown at her. Dash could see that the unacceptable contribution was in fact a large, black thunderhead cloud. It sent sparks of lightning coursing through the air around it. The colt looked up and spotted Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash!” he seemed to cheer up almost instantly, “Thank Celestia that you’re here. I need a favor. Show Mrs. Hooves here just how a real weather pony makes it rain.” With a few quick motions Dash had whipped up a fluffy grey cloud, full of water ready to be released for the shower. Derpy clapped. “Thanks Rainbow Dash,” the colt nodded, then nudged Derpy to come with him. “I’m taking her back to Cloudsdale. Can you get rid of that thunderhead for me?” “No prob,” Rainbow Dash said confidently, and readied herself for a kick that would demolish the thunderhead. It was at the point she realized she actually hadn’t gone far from where Applejack was, and she could see her cart on the ground below. What she did not like that she was seeing was a large brown colt chatting with Applejack. She wasn’t sure how long they’d been talking, but it looked like he was taking an awfully long time to buy some apples. Dash watched intently as the conversation continued, culminating in the colt getting very close to Applejack, and saying something that made her giggle and blush profusely. With that, the colt nodded and winked, and trotted away. Rainbow Dash had seen enough. “Argh, he better watch who he’s talking to!” Dash exclaimed out loud, and gave a swift backwards kick. Unfortunately her kick was misplaced, and instead of bursting the thunderhead, she sent it soaring away from her. “Oh man,” she face-hoofed. She vowed she would go find it soon, after she talked to someone. “So you’re…jealous?” Twilight Sparkle questioned her friend. “Jealous, me? She’s a mare like me, Twilight. How could I be jealous?” Rainbow Dash retorted defensively. “Well, you don’t have to be so defensive. I only meant that maybe you’re afraid somepony else is going to come in and take away the time you and Applejack spend together.” “Oh, uh, ahem, yeah,” Dash couldn’t help but blush a little, but she never stopped trying to act cool about everything. “I certainly cherish each and every moment I have with each of you. It’s really amazing being able to make such good friends after it being just me and Spike for so long,” Twilight continued on. Before the conversation could go on any longer, Rarity burst through the door. “Excuse me girls, I don’t mean to barge in or anything, but SOMETHING BAD IS HAPPENING AT SWEET APPLE ACRES!” When the group arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, all they found was complete chaos. Entire sections of the orchard were on fire, the orange flames seeming to touch the clouds above. Fluttershy was escaping through the blaze with a herd of frightened animals. They all scurried away as fast as they could. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh had already made it outside the farm and were watching in horror as everything the apple family had worked at for generations burned before their eyes. Applejack raced up a moment later. She stopped quickly, and her mouth hung agape at what she was seeing. “Where’s Applebloom and Winona?” she quickly asked. “Applebloom was with her friends in the woods,” Big Macintosh told her. “I couldn’t find Winona when I was herding the little animals out of the fire,” Fluttershy told her. “Well ah’m going in there then!” Applejack said before racing towards the inferno. Without a second thought, Rainbow Dash flew above her, and started whipping up rain clouds to try and put out the fire. Suddenly, a blinding flash lit the sky for a moment, and the air around her grew hot. She knew instantly what it was. The thunderhead she had sent flying had ended up over Sweet Apple Acres, and the lightning it was producing had set the trees ablaze. Quickly, Rainbow Dash dispatched the cloud, and began to whip up more rain clouds to combat the blaze. Applejack meanwhile had headed into the farmhouse, which had been set by the last lightning flash. She searched around until she found Winona, shivering under the kitchen table. She snatched Winona up by the collar in her mouth and dashed for the door. A rather large piece of roof caved in, blocking the exit. Applejack turned hoof and ran towards the kitchen and the back door. She could feel the heat through the ceiling, and thought about everything belonging to her family that was being charred above. Winona’s whimpers however prodded her to continue to escape the inferno. She ran out into a small rainstorm, which Rainbow Dash had managed to create to form a safe path leading out of the blaze. Even this was not enough to stop the monstrous blaze tearing through the orchard. Applejack followed the rain path back to where her friends and family were waiting. Suddenly, a sickening creak split the air. Applejack didn’t have to turn around to know what that was. The farmhouse supports began to give way, and it came crashing down into a burning heap in the middle of the orchard. Rainbow Dash was sure it was a lost cause, but she frantically continued to whip up more and more rain clouds. Very soon she was joined by many other Pegasus ponies that had seen the fire from Ponyville or Cloudsdale. Together, they reduced the blaze to cinders within a matter of minutes. However, the damage had already been done. When it was over, most of the buildings on Sweet Apple Acres were completely destroyed, and half of the apple crop was charred beyond use. Rainbow Dash landed, and stared at the solemn expression on Applejack’s face. Dash was afraid now, more so than she had ever admitted to being in her entire life. This had been her fault, and she could have prevented it. Once again she’d let something come between her and what she should have been doing. This has never happened before, she thought to herself, I’m in charge of the weather around here. This can’t be right. I only left it for a bit…I was going to… Rainbow Dash kept going over it in her head as to why she had been so careless. For a moment, everyone just sat in silence, unsure of what to do next. Fluttershy leaned towards Big Macintosh as tears most thought he could never shed slowly began trickling down his face. Pinkie Pie arrived to the scene, and stayed respectfully quiet, despite her usually loud and upbeat demeanor. Coming out of hiding, the Cutie Mark Crusaders crowded around Granny Smith, and while Granny Smith had a tendency to be in her own little world, everyone could see how hard it all was on her heart. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie embraced Applejack in a silent hug. Rainbow fluttered high above them, a feeling of disgust bubbling up in her stomach. She didn’t want to face Applejack now, she couldn’t. She kept telling herself it was an accident, but each time her mind would remind her If your jealousy hadn’t gotten the best of you Rainbow Dash, maybe you’d of thought twice and finished your job first. A few tears dripped from Rainbow’s eyes, and fell towards the ground. They rained down upon Applejack’s mane, making her glance upwards. The blue Pegasus was no longer anywhere to be found in the sky. That night, a group meeting had been called at Twilight’s Library to discuss some ideas and let the Apple family decide what they were going to do. “I’ve been working on my reversal spell,” Twilight said with enthusiasm, “Maybe I can reverse the damage done and fix this whole mess.” Before Applejack could give her approval, Big Macintosh stepped in. “That’s a might sweet of ya, Twilight. But we’re Earth ponies, always have been, and our families’ never been using no magic to do the work for us. We’ll get back on our hooves the normal way.” Both Twilight and Applejack sank down in their chairs at the news. Applejack had barely said a word since she’d returned with Winona. There was so much going on in her head, she couldn’t even begin to talk about it yet. Rainbow Dash hadn’t been present at this meeting. She circled Ponyville over and over, lost in her thoughts. Applejack kept flashing through her mind, the blank expression that had become fixed upon her face as the fire was reduced to embers, and the damage to the orchard became apparent. Finally, she flew down and walked slowly up to Twilight’s tree house. She could hear the voices of her friends talking seriously, going over this detail and that detail. But there was one voice she did not hear through the chatter, the only one she would have wanted to. Dash lifted herself up high enough to see everyone, but tried to stay out of sight. Sure enough, Applejack sat amidst the group, her face sullen, saying nothing. “AJ, I’m so sorry,” Rainbow Dash said silently. Days passed, and life went on in Ponyville for almost everyone, as life usually does. Twilight Sparkle was, however, the only pony to see Applejack. She lived quietly inside, moving from one day to the next, but never improving her mood. Everything had come as such a shock to her, she wasn’t sure if she could handle it. Every time one of her friends attempted to come see her, they would be swiftly turned away. For days, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie tried to elicit a more positive response from the orange mare, and each day they were very simply told that she wanted to be left alone. Eventually they decided only time would fix her problems, but never allowed themselves to give up on her. Each day, Rainbow Dash came and checked in on her through the window. Applejack never noticed her, or at least never acknowledged if she did. ‘Why won’t she come out’, Dash asked herself. ‘You destroyed her life’, the voice in her head replied. ‘No, no, no! Accidents happen every day!’ She tried to reason with herself. ‘You were careless and stupid. You being in charge of anything was the accident,’ the voice in her head told her, he mind portraying it as an exceptionally venomous retort. After a long inner battle with herself, Rainbow Dash managed to reach a single conclusion: she would tell Applejack the truth about the fire. It might hurt, and even though it was an accident, it might destroy their friendship, but any reaction was better than seeing Applejack the way she was now. Maybe you should talk to Twilight, she thought to herself. She decided she didn’t need the lecture from Twilight when she was most certainly going to get something from Applejack. Arriving at the library, she could see that Twilight had gone out to fetch some ingredients to aid her in a spell. Dash cautiously nudged open the door, and walked into the darkened library. Applejack was nowhere to be found. She noticed a candle was lit in the room normally occupied by Spike. Moving slowly, Rainbow Dash crept towards the door. Sure enough when she got a look through the crack, Applejack was sitting in her same sorry position on Spike’s bed, staring at the floor. “Uh, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash spoke quietly, hoping Applejack would notice her. Applejack gave a slight nod towards her, and turned away. It made Rainbow Dash wonder why it had affected Applejack so badly, when Big Macintosh hadn’t nearly as much as anypony else. Dash came around the bed, until she was face to face with Applejack. “Listen, Applejack,” she started, but was cut short as Applejack threw herself at Rainbow Dash. Dash was now on her back on the floor while Applejack sobbed on top of her. “What’d we do ta deserve this!” Applejack sobbed. All Rainbow Dash could think to do was wrap her front legs around her friend and let her cry. In the back of Dash’s mind, all she could think about was how much she’d wanted to be able to embrace Applejack, but this was far from how she wanted it to happen. She stroked the length of Applejack’s mane, and tried to get her to calm down. After a few moments, Applejack pulled away, balancing uneasily on her hooves. “Ah’m sorry Rainbow Dash,” she sniffed and wiped some tears from her eyes, “Ah’ve just been holdin’ it in so hard, and Ah I know you understand me the best.” Dash couldn’t help but smile a little, “What’re friends for, AJ?” It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, Dash’s thoughts told her, she’s supposed to be yelling at you, not crying to you. But she is talking…. At that moment, Rainbow Dash was able to calm her mind, and stand up and face Applejack. “Ya think ya’ll could stay with me, just fer a little while?” Applejack asked her. “No problem,” Dash told her, and curled up into the bed with Applejack. They laid awake for hours, Applejack sobbing occasionally, and Rainbow Dash would try her best to calm her down again. Applejack had never felt happier to have her best friend alongside her. She’d never needed someone so badly. “Applejack, how is it Big Macintosh has stayed so calm through all of this?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I mean, Granny Smith may not be there all the time, and Applebloom seemed happy enough to be staying with her friend, but none of them seemed to be so affected.” “Ya gotta understand ma big brother,” Applejack told her, “He’ll do anything ta make sure the family’s ok. He’s a strong one, he has ta be.” Applejack looked down again, tears returning to her eyes. “Why can’t Ah be so strong. Why can’t Ah just pretend its all going to go away.” Dash sat up, and put on the most stern face she could. “You can’t do that because you can’t lie to yourself, or anyone else. You’re the element of honesty, and if that comes with seeing the reality of things, than that’s perfectly fine. It’s who you are Applejack, and I lo---,” she topped. “Ya what?” Applejack had seen her expression change as she tried to make up something else to say. Now it was Applejack’s turn to give the stern look. “I also know when yer lying, Rainbow Dash, now come on, come out with it.” Rather than finishing her statement, Dash leaned in and kissed Applejack on the lips. Applejack’s surprise didn’t last long, and she embraced her friend in the kiss. After a moment, Rainbow Dash pulled back. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh,” she sputtered, “I’m sorry Applejack, it just happened, I-“ she was cut off as Applejack put a hoof to her face. “Don’t go apologizin’ sugercube,” she said and smiled, and gave Dash another kiss. Moments before this, Twilight Sparkle had returned home from Zecora’s place. She wanted to check on Applejack before she began her studies. She quietly nudged open Applejack’s door, and saw the two ponies locked in a passionate kiss. Twilight gave a small smirk, and backed out before she was seen. Days went by where all of Rainbow Dash’s time was spent with Applejack. No matter how hard Rainbow pushed however, Applejack did not want to leave the solitude of the library. Finally, two weeks to the day that the fire had happened, Twilight decided it was time to step in. Rainbow Dash knocked on the door early that morning, and was confronted with a stern looking Twilight. “Eh, hey Twilight. Something on your mind?” Rainbow asked, seeing her expression. “Rainbow, look, I’ve been so glad to be able to help out Applejack in her time of need, and I still want to help her. But…she needs to get out and face her problems. She’s been in that room for a while now, and I know I’ve seen Macintosh over at the orchard, at least trying to clean things up a little. She needs to go out.” “ Twi, I’ve tried. I ask her every day, and every day she says she just can’t bear to see what’s left out there. If she won’t do it for me, I don’t think she’ll do it for anypony.” “Well, we’ve got to try. I know you’ve been helping her a lot Rainbow Dash, but its not healthy for her to mope indoors all day. And our friends miss her too,” Twilight tried to stay optimistic. “Yeah, and I’d like my room back sometime this century,” Spike butted in. The two ponies shot Spike menacing looks for his attempt at humor. “Sheesh, I just wouldn’t mind not having to sleep near Twilight for much longer. You know she performs magic in her sleep sometimes,” he said and walked off, making an obvious gesture to his tail, which was covered in pink polka dots. Twilight gave an apologetic smile, and then reminded herself of the task at hand. “Rainbow, if not for the farm, convince her that her family needs her. Granny Smith seems fine, but such stress at her age is worrisome, and Big Mac can’t do all that work himself. Not to mention Applejack’s support would benefit Applebloom much more than anyone elses, plus she’s starting to drive Rarity mad.” Rainbow Dash thought of Rarity, fabric strewn across her dress shop, confetti raining down over her as Applebloom and her friends explored every nook and cranny for anything interesting. Rainbow snickered at the thought. “I’ll see what I can do Twilight, but I can’t make any promises. And besides, I’m trying to be pretty gentle with her. She finally understands how I feel and I don’t want—“ Dash stopped, realizing she may be speaking of things that Applejack didn’t want her friends to know about. Twilight held out her hoof out and placed it on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, and gave a small smile, “It’s fine Rainbow, I know.” After leaving Twilight to her studies, Rainbow Dash went on ahead into the room where Applejack was staying. At the sight of her friend, Applejack brightened immensely. Rainbow trotted towards her, and they embraced in a long, passionate kiss. “Ya’ll was a little late today,” Applejack teased, “Weren’t out humorin’ some other mare, were ya?” “Of course not,” Dash said pridefully, “But ah, Applejack, I think we need to talk.” Applejack’s face fell when she heard it. She could already guess what Rainbow Dash was going to ask her. “Come outside, AJ. Everypony misses you a lot, you’re Ponyville’s hero after all. You gotta come out and face everything.” “Ah ain’t doin’ nothin’ of the sort, Rainbow Dash,” she said sternly, “Ah’m just not ready fer that. It’s too soon,” she tried to tell her. “Then don’t face it yet, but come outside. Let me take you somewhere, somewhere where we can be alone AJ, really alone. We won’t have to worry about Twilight peeking in or anyone else dropping by. And when you are ready, then we’ll come back and face this together,” Rainbow Dash’s ruby eyes were bright and honest as she spoke, giving Applejack a comforting feeling. “We—well uh, uh, uh, alright then. Jus’ give me a couple’o minutes ta compose m’self,” Applejack stammered. “I’m gonna go talk to Twilight until you are ready,” Dash said as she headed for the door, “Take your time. I’m not in a rush…for once.” Before Dash could exit, Applejack called back out to her. “Rainbow,” she said, visibly shaking. “Huh, what’s wrong?” Rainbow came back over to where she was standing. Before anything else was said, Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash into a warm embrace, and gave her the best kiss Rainbow Dash had ever experienced. “Ah…ah love you Dash,” Applejack whispered into her ear, and then nuzzled her neck. Dash was suddenly swirling with emotions. Her guilt over everything flooded back for a mere moment, but was quickly replaced with something much more. It was the words she’d always dreamed to hear from Applejack, and while truly a lot of what she had imagined had come true in these past two weeks, it defined everything for her. Happiness overtook her, and she squeezed Applejack tightly with her hooves. Rainbow Dash pulled her head back so that she was staring directly into Applejack’s eyes. “I love you too.” Standing on the outskirts of town, Applejack looked down from a hill across all of Ponyville. Except for her brief time in Manehatten, this was where her life had been. If she’d looked just a little further to her right, she could have glimpsed Celestia’s sun gleaming off the few apple trees left at Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow Dash had headed up to her cloud home to get a few things for their trip. She had been gone a while, which made Applejack think she was packing for a long stay away from Ponyville. Deep inside, she knew she did not want to leave everything behind, especially her family. She thought of Granny Smith, who could likely leave Equestria at any time; of Big Macintosh, who she was sure couldn’t run everything by himself forever; and she thought of Applebloom, who’d been almost as much a daughter to her as she had been a little sister. Maybe ah don’t need this, she thought to herself, and forced her gaze towards what remained of the orchard. She couldn’t see much of the damage, but it was enough to make the tears creep back into her eyes. She dropped down onto the hard Earth and just laid there for several moments as her emotions once again caught up to her. “Ah don’t care what Rainbow Dash says,” she sobbed, “If’n there’s one person ah wish I could lie ta, It’d be me.” Applejack raised her head and looked into the beautiful blue sky over Ponyville. She wiped the tears away from her face with her hoof, and let herself get lost in thought. She could feel the breeze blowing across the back of her mane, and thought about all the days like this she’d experienced growing up there. She looked down and watched the breeze part the green grass, cutting a path all the way into Ponyville. She couldn’t imagine that she’d find anything better anywhere else. And that was when the realization hit her: she didn’t need to be anywhere else. Applejack stood up, feeling stronger than ever. She’d cried enough over the past weeks, and she was sure she couldn’t possibly cry anymore. She’d never liked the idea of running from anything, and she couldn’t imagine what the Apple Family would have thought of her for doing it, let alone her friends. When Twilight Sparkle came into her life, things around her had only gotten better. She realized she’d miss going to Pinkie Pie’s signature parties, or aiding in the winter wrap-up. She couldn’t imagine never again saving timid Fluttershy from a cricket that was a little too aggressive, and she even realized she’d miss occasionally modeling for Rarity. To top it all off, Ponyville introduced her to her best friend, and the Pony she now loved most in the world. For the first time in weeks without Rainbow Dash around, Applejack smiled to the world, ready to face whatever challenges laid ahead. She could hear the sound of somepony getting closer to her now, and she couldn’t wait to give the good news. Soon, an exhausted Rainbow Dash landed next to her, with saddle bags filled to the brim of Dash’s important belongings. “So….heavy,” Dash wheezed. Applejack laughed and smiled big, surprising Rainbow Dash. “Forget it sugarcube, we’re staying in Ponyville!” she exclaimed. Dash managed a huge grin, glad that Applejack had changed her mind. Her mood quickly returned to despair when she realized she had to return everything she was carrying. Dash started to fly back up to take everything back, when Applejack yanked her back down out of the sky. With Dash once again under Applejack, like that first night that now seemed so long ago to Rainbow Dash, they locked lips more passionately than they had ever done so before. Rainbow could sense the change in Applejack, her more dominating presence taking hold versus the frightened filly she had come off as before. Truly now, the dreams Rainbow Dash had had for several years now were finally coming true. My Old Apple Acre Home Redux Chapter 1My Old Apple Acre Home Redux Chapter 1 (Author’s Note: So, although I got some generally good reception out of the original version of this story, I feel like there was a lot of things I could have done better. Grammar mistakes and such aside, I know some readers weren’t happy with the ending, some had trouble getting through it due to typos and such, and I’m sure there were some that didn’t enjoy the story. But for everyone who did, I present a retelling, and its not a fixed copy/paste job, I’m rewriting this from the ground up, and may take the story in a different directions, depending on how I feel when I get to certain plot points. I want opinions based on this first chapter if anyone thinks I should keep going, or leave things as they are. Enjoy!.) My Old Apple Acre Home Redux It was a peaceful morning as the sun rose over the apple orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. The line of sunlight crept across the ground, tracing the shapes of each and every tree as the dawn swept forward, beginning the new day. The light quickly snaked its way up the side of the farmhouse, and soon yellow rays of Celestia’s morning sun were showering the still sleeping face of Applejack through the cracks in her shutters. Slowly her eyes fluttered, and with a yawn the orange earth pony pulled herself out of bed. Still a bit groggy, she trotted over to the window and nudged the shutters open with a hoof. The bright sun made her wince only for a second, and soon her eyes adjusted to the sight of the apple trees, still dripping with the morning dew. It was as beautiful as the lights ponies often strung up during the Hearth’s Warming Celebration. “G’mornin’ Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack smiled and sighed. What Applejack didn’t know was this perfect morning, had been meticulously set up by Rainbow Dash. She knew these mornings were the best for Applejack, so she’d decided to pick days and get out early for her friend. Dash wasn’t much of a morning pony; however, and despite the fact she’d wanted to stay awake and see Applejack’s bright green eyes shimmering in the morning light, Rainbow had landed on the single cloud currently overhead and fallen fast asleep. She tossed and turned as dreams ran about through her head, and before long, without ever realizing it, she plummeted from her cloud bed towards the farmhouse below. She landed with a crash headfirst on the hardwood roof. “What in tar-Rainbow Dash! Looks like yer hard head dented mah roof!” Applejack said, at first surprised but soon smirking as the light blue pony collected herself. “Ouch!” Dash whimpered as she rubbed her head through her mane. “Uh, hey AJ. Mind if I come in?” “Why sure Rainbow. Besides, ain’t often Ah see ya out this early.” “Well, it was just such a beautiful morning, and I thought-“ Dash was cut off by an orange hoof to her mouth. “That you’d make it even more beautiful by getting’ up before mornin’. Dash blushed and took a step back, feeling a little embarrassed. “Ah, come on now sugar cube, what’s the occasion?” Dash trotted over to the wall, and with a hoof pointed to the day. “It’s the day we met, remember AJ?” “O’ course Ah do. It was terrible!” Applejack couldn’t hold back giggling, and soon Dash was too. After a few minutes, and a lot of laughs, Applejack embraced Dash in a hug. Dash could feel her face getting warm as she began to blush. “Thank ya Rainbow Dash. It, it means a lot ta me,” AJ said sweetly before releasing Dash from her embrace. Applejack walked back to the window, glancing out at the ripe red apples. Below, Big Macintosh had already gotten out and begun to buck the first trees. The official start of Applebuck Season was still a couple weeks away, but with some tips gathered from all over Equestria courtesy of Twilight Sparkle, many of the trees were already ready to be picked. With another sigh, AJ turned to her dresser near her bed, and picked her brown Stetson from it’s resting place. With a toss she had it over her blonde mane, and was ready to start work for the morning. “Well Rainbow, Ah’ve gotta-“ Applejack stopped and a thin smile crossed her lips. Rainbow Dash was now curled on the floor near the wall, exhaustion having finally gotten the best of her again. AJ nudged Dash awake again, and slowly walked the barely conscious pony to her bed. “It may not be as comfy as a cloud, but Ah think ya’ll can get some rest here,” she said before tucking the blue Pegasus in. Dash was gone to the world again in a matter of seconds. Gently, Applejack trotted out of the room, and with a hoof pulled the door shut. She headed downstairs, past Granny Smith’s antique clock that read 7:00 a.m., and out into the bright morning air. It was the clock striking ten that finally woke the rainbow-maned Pegasus from her slumber. “Five… more… minutes…”she muttered, her eyes still heavy as she tried to roll over and go back to sleep. She inhaled deeply, catching the scent of apples on the pillow. Applejack’s scent. Suddenly, Dash didn’t want to sleep anymore, she wanted to think about Applejack, to go out and append the day doing whatever Applejack wanted to. “If only I didn’t have that stupid weather team meeting today…” she moaned. Dash’s eyes shot open at the realization. The weather team was supposed to meet that morning at ten, and she hadn’t bothered to count the number of chimes that woke her. “Buck!” Dash cried, rolling out of bed and onto the hard floor. She didn’t bother straightening her mane or brushing down her feathers, and rushed through the bedroom door, down the stairs, and out the front. In no time she was soaring over the apple trees towards Ponyville. Below, Big Mac was bucking apples into several baskets around him. Fluttershy peeked her head from around one of the trees nearby, directing her animal friends to pick up the apples that didn’t make the baskets. Granny Smith sat by the barn, talking to no one in particular. Dash could also see Applebloom and her friends talking around a stump outside their clubhouse. She was sure the fillies were probably drawing up more plans to try to get their cutie marks. She didn’t see Applejack however, but since it wasn’t uncommon for the earth mare to take a load of apples into town, her whereabouts didn’t stay too long on her mind. As she headed into town, Dash had time to think about things in her life. She liked being the type of pony who made decisions on the fly, it was part of being the coolest pony in town. Things had changed when she’d first realized her feelings for Applejack. It wasn’t an instant realization for her, but eventually it had become clear. She’d started getting fluttery feelings in her stomach around AJ, and at night her she dreamed of the romance they might share. It had made her want to impress Applejack, to make her as happy as she could. Dash hadn’t hinted at her desires to her friend however, and despite all the things dash had been trying to do lately, she was pretty sure Applejack hadn’t caught on. In all honesty, Dash was afraid. Applejack was still a simple country pony in a small town like Ponyville, and Dash knew too well that some ponies had no trouble voicing their displeasure with what they called fillyfoolers. Dash hated the word. Applejack hadn’t ever shown disdain towards anypony that didn’t deserve it, but Rainbow still couldn’t bear to hurt their friendship. So she cherished every moment she could be close to Applejack. Dash landed swiftly moments later in front of Sugarcube Corner, and started for the town square where the weather team was supposed to be waiting for her. Within two steps, Dash had nearly every one of her senses assaulted by Pinkie Pie, who burst from one of the windows on the bakery. “Rainbow Dash! Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood morning! It feels like so long since I last saw you Dashie, which was actually just yesterday but that was like, ten hours ago, and ten hours seems like a long time, but it really isn’t if you go to sleep which I did and then I woke up and then it was like ten hours later and now I’m seeing you again!” Pinkie rattled on and on. “Uh, nice to see you again too Pinkie Pie, but I’m running a little late for something.” “Ooooooooooook Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said, then continued to stand in front of her friend. “Pinkie?” “Yes, Rainbow Dash?” “I, I kinda gotta go that way.” “Yep, you sure do!” Pinkie exclaimed, and stood still. “Well I’m gonna go now Pinkie Pie. Take it easy, ok?” Dash said, now a little uneasy. “I sure will Dashie! Oh, and if you’re looking for Applejack, she’s selling apples by market!” Pinkie yelled and dashed back towards Sugarcube Corner. “I didn’t ask, Pinkie!” Dash yelled after her. “I know you didn’t!” Pinkie yelled back with a huge grin, before disappearing into the shop. “I’ll never understand that pony,” Dash muttered, while feeling quite bemused by Pinkie. When she finally got to the town square, it was nearly 10:45. There she found three Pegasi, not even half of her normal weather team. “Where is everyone?” she asked the purple Pegasus Cloudchaser. “Guess they all had better things to do when you didn’t show on time. You’re lucky my beauty appointments aren’t till this afternoon. Where’ve you been anyway? Way your mane looks, I’d say crashing into things as usual.” “Hehe, Rainbow Crash!”shouted the giant white buff Pegasus next to Cloudchaser. Dash snorted and held herself back from doing anything too rash. She turned to the third pony. “Derpy… you know what, everybody go on home. We’re not planning rain until next week, so I’ll plan for another meeting later. Sorry for wasting your time.” “Yeeeeeaaaahhhh!” the buff Pegasus shouted before taking to the sky. Cloudchaser said nothing, instead flipping her pale mane over her side and trotting off. “Yes sir ma’am team leader Rainbow Dash!” Derpy said enthusiastically, before whipping a mail carrier’s hat from the bag she carried with her, and beginning her other job. Once she was alone, Rainbow sighed, and with a few flaps of her wings took to the air again. The only thing on her mind was Applejack, and she decided she should head to the market and see what Applejack was up to. In the market area, Dash found Applejack with her usual apple cart, which was loaded down with all sorts of treats the Apple Family had been able to whip up with the advent of the early harvest. She hovered above, watching intently when a crash drew her attention. She turned from gazing at the mare she so desperately wanted, trying to find the source of the noise. She waited until she heard another crash, and tried to hone in on what was causing it. Not far from the market she could see three colts, all Pegasi and a few years older than Applebloom and her friends, hopping up and down on something. Another crash told Dash exactly what it was. She gave a few good flaps and then dove fast toward the young ponies. She sped faster and faster down, then pulled up, opening her wings and skidding to a stop inches from the ground. Dust kicked up and the air gust nearly blew the colts back. “Eh, what’s this all about?” one of the colts stomped his hooves in the dirt, trying to act tough. “Well I’d say it’s about three ponies playing with a thunderhead that shouldn’t be,” Dash smirked as she spoke. “Yeah, so? We’re, uh, learning so we can be on the weather team some day,” a brown Pegasus lied. “And so we can do this!” said a green one, who jumped on the black cloud, which sent a blast of lightning skimming past Rainbow Dash, and slamming a hole through the wall of some unsuspecting pony’s home. Dash had managed to keep her cool, despite being nearly blasted. She blew a bit of her mane out of her eyes, and puffed her chest out so she looked more like a pony of authority. “Well, I give you guys an A for effort, but as captain of the weather team, you wouldn’t last a second on the job. Besides, even for a storm cloud your construction is terrible. See those sparks it keeps giving off? It’s extremely unstable. I’m sure your mothers would all be very proud you can work with clouds, but I’d bet they’d also appreciate if you didn’t get your faces blown off.” “Hmph, whatever. This wasn’t that much fun anyway! Come on guys, lets go buck around in Cloudsdale,” the third Pegasus, a blue one, said; the sound of disdain in his voice was evident. Dash was left alone with the black cloud , which sparked and sizzled, and even sent tiny bolts of lightning which singed the grass around her hooves. Carefully, Dash moved the cloud up into the air. She wanted it away from anypony else in case it breaking it down didn’t go as she hoped. Again she was now over the market square, and could see Applejack still at the stand. What caught Dash’s attention however, was the big stallion that had stopped at the stand. Dash knew his name was Meadowsong, and plenty of the mares in town had swooned over him at one time or another. Even from where she was, she could tell he wasn’t looking over the apples. She couldn’t hear anything being said, but the more the stallion talked, the more Applejack would blush and rub a hoof over her other leg. Eventually, Meadowsong moved close to AJ, whispering something into her ear. Applejack seemed to giggle, her face maintaining the bright red, and before Meadowsong pulled way, he planted a light kiss on one of AJ’s cheeks. Dash couldn’t help but be furious. “Are you kidding me,” Dash spoke through gritted teeth. “He can have any mare he wants in Ponyville, and that’s the one he decides to try and get his hooves on. Arragh!” With her frustrated cry, she bucked recklessly in the air. Her back hooves connected with the thunderhead, which gave a crash that startled several ponies below, including Applejack. The buck sent the thunderhead spiraling away from Ponyville, sparking and crackling. Dash watched it soar, at first ready to chase it, but seeing as it was leaving the town, she decided it didn’t matter. Her mind was filled with the burning to desire to swoop down and give Meadowsong a good kick in the flank, but she decided that Applejack wasn’t anything more than a friend to her right now, so any misplaced aggression would only serve to make her look terrible. Still, she needed to blow off some steam, so she raced off towards the library. If anyone could help, she was sure it was Twilight. “So you’re…jealous, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked after eharing Dash’s story. “Huh, me? Of Applejack? She’s a mare Twilight, why would I be jealous?” “Well actually I was talking about being jealous of Meadowsong being attracted to Applejack and not you, but it sure sounds like you’re jealous of somebody,” Twilight lowered the glasses she was wearing and closed the books she had lying all over her table. “Are you afraid if AJ gets together with somepony, that she won’t have time for you guys to spend time together?” “Well, yeah. I mean, sort of, but it's complicated. Well, no it isn’t but, I’m not very good at talking about this kind of stuff Twilight.” “Well you know, I’m always here Rainbow, and I wouldn’t mind trying to talk through stuff with you. We don’t ever spend much time together by ourselves, you know. I’d… like that,” Twilight told her, a slight blush crossing her face that Dash failed to notice. Dash nodded, not giving her full attention to Twilight. The purple unicorn had helped, and Dash was never one to open up to many ponies about her feelings. Still, without the whole story Twi could only do so much, and Dash’s heart was already sure of what she needed to do: talk to Applejack, and put everything out in the open. Dash looked up at the still slightly red-faced, but now silent unicorn. “Well, thanks Twilight. I think I’ve got some things to take care of. But maybe we can hang out later, or something.” Dash closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her head with one of her forelegs. Twilight only nodded, and watched as the rainbow-maned Pegasus got up from her spot at Twi’s table. Before she could, the library door burst open, and Rarity and Fluttershy quickly made their way inside. Both looked rather panicked. “Girls, is something wrong?” Twi asked. “Rainbow Dash, thank Celestia you’re here! Weather team, water, help, now!” Rarity screamed at Rainbow Dash. “Huh, what?” dash was taken aback. “RainbowDashThere’sAFireAtSweetAppleAcresAndWeNeedHelpNowWillYouHelpPlease!” Fluttershy rattled out fearfully, tears streaming from her eyes. “Did you say fire? At Sweet Apple Acres?! I‘m on it!” Dash sped out the door without another word. Dash soared back over Ponyville, stopping for only one moment when she saw Derpy. She quickly glided down to the wall-eyed mare. “Derpy, I need your help, please listen. Sweet Apple Acres, something is going on, I think it is one fire. I need you to round up as many members of the weather team as you can and bring rain clouds. Please Derpy, as fast as you can!” “Yes ma’am!” Derpy saluted and gave one of the most serious looks Dash had ever seen from the grey mare. Not wanting to waste any more time, Rainbow took to the air again, pushing herself to near-Rainboom speeds, hoping Applejack hadn’t returned to the farm yet. When she arrived, the farm was in total chaos. Hundreds of apple trees were ignited in bright torrents of flame. One of the trees had crashed into the barn, setting it ablaze. The flames were creeping closer and closer to the farmhouse. On the outskirts of the farm, Dash could see Granny Smith and Big Macintosh huddled close, unable to do anything now that the fire had spread so out of control. Several of the farm animals, the pigs, the cows, and the chickens were gathered near them, though it looked like many of the animals hadn’t made it out. A small group of woodland creatures were gathered as well, with Angel-Bunny in the center. Dash assumed Fluttershy had gotten him to round up as many of the animals that lived in the orchard as he could. A moment later, her other friends, Applejack included were headed as fast as they could up the path to the farm. Dash let out a small sigh of relief. Then she heard the sound that chilled her to the bone. Boom! It was all too familiar, and quickly Dash was speeding through the rising smoke. Her fears were proven too when she reached just above the farmhouse, and there floating listlessly, spewing forth bolts of lightning and crackling with thunder was the thunderhead from earlier. “This…this is my fault….” Dash realized, her eyes wide. She shot forward quickly, hooves outstretched to take down the cloud. With amazing force, Dash reared above the cloud, and smashed down with her front hooves. The cloud broke apart with a blast, send Dash crashing to the ground near the farmhouse. She looked up weakly, surrounded by the bright orange heat. The smoke began to fill her lungs, and she coughed and sputtered . Her head began to spin and slowly she passed into unconsciousness. Her last thought was how sorry she was, that she’d just ruined Applejack’s life, and was now about to lose hers. The rest of the ponies arrived soon after Dash, and stood around the outskirts of the farm. Applejack stood in near hysterics, while the ever solemn Big Macintosh let a number of silent tears run down his cheeks. Fluttershy snuck up next to the red stallion and wrapped a leg around one of his. Granny Smith hobbled over to Applejack. “It’ll be ok dearie, the Apple family has gotten through tough times before,” she spoke, trying to comfort her granddaughter. “And don’t worry about Applebloom, she and her friends were playing at my shop before any of this happened,” Rarity told her. Applejack shook all over, unable to speak or move. Her life was burning away before her eyes. A loud boom shook nearly all the ponies, but AJ remained frozen to her spot. That is, until she heard a familiar sound. Barking, coming from somewhere within the blaze. “Winona!” Applejack suddenly cried out, “Did anyone get Winona?” Mac and Granny Smith both glanced at one another, and shook their heads. “S-s-s-she’s still i-in there!” Applejack sputtered through her tears. “Ah’ve gotta go get her!” Before the other ponies could stop her, Applejack rushed forward into the fire. Before anypony could stop her, she disappeared into the roaring flames. Doing her best to ignore the scorching heat, Applejack galloped up the winding path to the farmhouse. “Winona! Here girl!” she shouted as she approached. A familiar blue form caught her eye as she got closer. She gasped when she saw Rainbow Dash, unconscious in front of the house. Winona had come outside, and was lapping at Dash’s face. She whimpered as Applejack approached her friend. “Dash, wake up! Ya’ll can’t be sleepin’ now! Rainbow Dash, please wake up!” she held back tears and shouted at the downed Pegasus. Knowing what she had to do, Applejack straightened her hat and lifted Dash onto her back. She whistled for Winona, and picked the small dog up by the scruff of her neck with her teeth. Applejack looked around at the trees charring, beginning to crumble all along the path back. A loud creaking behind her only served to get her moving faster. The farmhouse behind her had caught fire, and once much of the house had started to burn, supports failed, load bearing beams had burned, and the house was now seconds away from crashing into the earth. AJ looked around hopelessly. In the flames, she thought she could see faces, laughing at her, mocking her. They were like demons, they were like the villains she and her friends had defeated in the past, finally getting some sort of revenge against her. They wanted to see her suffer, wanted to see her burn. She stamped a hoof in the dry dirt, and readied herself to run. Feeling the extra weight on her back, she wasn’t so sure she could. On her own she was fast, and had no trouble racing through the flames. Winona wasn’t a problem, but she was beginning to fear that at least one of them would end up hurt, or worse, by having to carry Dash. She wasn’t about to leave her friend. “Ah’m sorry Dash…Ah ain’t sure Ah can get us outta here,” AJ said softly. And then the raindrops hit her. At first only a few speckled her singed orange coat, but quickly it escalated into a torrent of rain, which quickly calmed the fire in her path. Thankful for the miracle, Applejack hurried as fast as she could to get them away. Briefly looking up, she saw several Pegasi from the Ponyville’s weather team streaking across the sky, rain clouds in hoof, building a wall of clouds to douse the fire. Most surprising of all, Derpy seemed to be leading the charge. Behind her, the sound of splintering wood grew to a roar, as the farmhouse collapsed to the ground. Applejack didn’t look as she joined her friends. She knew all too well that the farmhouse had suddenly become very much like her life, falling down around her.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 2Fire. The flames rose and swirled like angry red tornadoes, sucking up everything within their paths. She couldn’t see through them, and the black smoke the created rose so high flying above them would be difficult. Screams cut through the air, managing to reach her ears despite the crackling all around her. She knew who it was. As fast as lightning she zoomed through the flames, the cushion of air around her keeping them at bay, causing only minor singes to her wings. Her vision was a blur of reds and oranges and grey, until suddenly she found an area of peace amidst it all. Despite the sky being shrouded in smoke, she could still clearly see the greens and reds and browns, the colors of living things, completely untouched. All around her was what she could only describe as hell. The walls of flames seemed to ignore this particular area. In the center of this area stood a very familiar farmhouse. An orange earth pony hung out the window, fear in her eyes as she looked around for means to escape this place. Then she looked straight at the Pegasus pony that had emerged from the flames, and let out another scream. The flames behind the Pegasus pony had twisted into a grotesque copy of herself. It cackled wildly above her, and then threw itself into the untouched landscape. She flew as fast as she could to snatch up the orange pony, but she felt her wings suddenly fail her. She dropped to the ground as the horrible flame pony crashed into the farmhouse, obliterating it and anyone inside. The Pegasus pony tried to cry out, but nothing would come to her throat. The flames around the farmhouse twisted and turned again, transforming themselves into an image of the orange pony that the Pegasus had failed to save. Tears of blue flames poured from its eyes as it slowly started to deteriorate, as if the flesh of the pony’s face were rotting away. The flames fell, then rose again, and exploded, engulfing everything in the burning mass. Rainbow Dash awoke extremely unsettled by the dream she’d just had. Panicked, she quickly reached over and pulled back the covers. Applejack’s orange form lay curled up beside her, sleeping soundly. With a sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash gently covered her back up, and climbed out of bed. It was early, somewhere before five in the morning. She paced around the room for a few minutes, worried by what she’d just experienced. She kept telling herself it was just a dream. Her mind, however, continued to try to tell her a different story. You know what it meant, a voice in her head said to her. You’re guilty, guilty of destroying Applejack’s life. Guilty of all the hardship that will surely come from losing her family business. “It’s not my fault,” Rainbow Dash reasoned with herself out loud, “I told you already I had no idea that would happen. And Applejack has never been happier than she has lately.” Then tell her the truth, the voice urged, tell her you were careless, and stupid, and that you burnt down her farm! “I didn’t burn it down! It…was…an accident!” she said louder, almost yelling, then realized that Applejack might hear her. Dash suddenly realized just how she sounded arguing with herself, and tried to shake the voice out of her head. Soon it had stopped, and she was extremely thankful it had. Things were getting better all around, and Rainbow Dash didn’t need anypony thinking she might be crazy. She yawned, realizing just how little she’d slept during the night, and calmly climbed back into bed with Applejack. She grabbed the sheet in her mouth and stretched the covers back up to her chin. She couldn’t get the dream off her mind though. She kept asking herself if she was guilty, and what would it have been like if things had been worse than what they were. Worse, she was beginning to become fearful of what would happen if Applejack ever found out about the cause of the fire. Dash snuggled close to Applejack, who gave a warm sigh in her sleep, and grinned. Dash tried to clear her mind. All she wanted to think about was Applejack. Out at what was left of the orchard, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had taken refuge under one of the last large apple trees still standing. Celestia’s sun was beating down hard today, and Ponyville wasn’t due for any rain until the end of the week. “Phew we,” Applejack sighed, flipping her braid behind her head and shaking her hat to the ground, “Ah’d think even Princess Celestia would know when ta turn the heat down.” Rainbow didn’t seem to notice. She sat gazing into the blue sky, her mind seemingly elsewhere. “Uh, hello, Earth pony to Pegasus pony?” Applejack waved a hoof in front of Dash’s face. Rainbow snapped out of her daze, and looked at Applejack. “Sorry AJ, just got things on my mind,” Rainbow Dash told her, not realizing Applejack would probably ask what it was. “Well, what could possibly be distractin’ ya from such a beautiful day like this?” “Oh…uh, our friends, that’s all. I mean, do you think they should know about us?” Rainbow half lied. She’d actually been thinking about that question at one point or another. “Do ya think they’d have some problem with it?” Applejack questioned her, doubting their friends would be so shallow. “Well, I mean…no, no I don’t think they would. It bothers me though, you know how some of the…less open-minded ponies talk about Lyra and Bon Bon. Let’s not forget all the talk over just where Berry Punch’s daughter came from.” “Does it really matter that much to ya, Rainbow Dash?” she rolled over on her back, not caring that her mane was getting a good coating of dirt across it. Rainbow Dash thought this over for a second. On the one hoof, she wouldn’t want her friends to think anything less of the two. However, the only person that really needed to matter was Applejack, and Rainbow Dash already had her. “No, it doesn’t matter,” Dash answered finally, “I’ve got what matters right here.” Dash rolled over on her back and joined Applejack in an upside down stare at the midday sky. Rainbow had to give Applejack a lot of credit. Even after that day not so long ago when Applejack had decided to stay in Ponyville, she hadn’t wanted to even hardly look at what had been Sweet Apple Acres. And then, one day she got up early and headed out to find Big Macintosh, and help him in the long process of clearing the land. From that point on, when her time permitted, Dash had helped too, and now it once again had some semblance to the orchard that had existed before the fire. With only a few trees, the fields looked rather bare with only the sprouts of grass shooting up, but Rainbow hoped she and Applejack would be able to see the land returned to its former glory. Together. Their vision was suddenly filled with a very large amount of pink. Both confused, they rolled back over and saw Pinkie Pie hanging upside down from the apple tree. “Pinkie Pie! What’n tarnation are ya doin’ up there?” Applejack snapped a bit, concerned over what the pink earth pony had heard. “Well, I was gathering some sticks for Gummy to play fetch with, and the best sticks are always still in the trees so I climbed up here, but then I realized Gummy doesn’t even play fetch! So then I saw you two here and decided to surprise you!” Pinkie carried on for a minute. “Say Pinkie, did uh, did you hear anything?” Rainbow Dash asked her. “Why sure, there’s a whole nest of birds up there going cheep cheep cheep! And there’s all sorts of sounds coming from Ponyville and-“ “Pinkie!” Rainbow interrupted her, “I meant, anything we said.” “Well, gosh, I guess I just wasn’t paying attention to you. Was it something good?” Pinkie’s curiosity was obviously peaked. “Ya’ll mind me askin’ a favor?” Applejack said suddenly “Why sure Applejack, anything.” “Ah was thinkin’, it’s been a while since ya’lls had one of yer famous Pinkie Pie parties, and it’d really cheer me up to go one,” she told Pinkie as the pink pony listened intently. “But uh, me’an Rainbow Dash kinda want to talk to everypony about somethin’ too.” “Oh, surprise telling party! Okie dokie lokie, be there at 7 tonight!” Pinkie said and bounded off into Ponyville. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what to say. She certainly hadn’t expected things to move so fast. More thoughts were already running through her mind, from having the best party ever to an angry mob of ponies chasing the two with torches of burning hay and signs made with giant red letters, exclaiming the word “fillyfoolers.” She could feel herself begin to sweat from nervousness. Applejack caught onto her fear rather quickly. “Now don’t ya’ll be tellin’ me that the Rainbow Dash, best young flier in Equestria, is getting scared over a little party with her friends,” Applejack teased her. After a few deep breaths, Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air and tackled Applejack. The two rolled around for a moment and came to rest back at the trunk of the apple tree. The two burst out into a fit of laughter that lasted for several seconds. Without thinking or caring who might be watching, Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Applejack’s neck and pulled her in close for kiss. For several minutes the two continued, enjoying every moment under the warm rays of Celestia’s sun, Hours went by, and so here they were now, standing at the door to Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie was setting up another one of her signature parties. Lightly, Rainbow Dash knocked on the door. They waited. “Still got cold hooves?” Applejack grinned a little at her, “T’ain’t nopony gonna hear that feeble knockin’.” Rainbow Dash blushed and gave a look of mild bewilderment. Applejack knocked louder. Suddenly the door swung open and Pinkie Pie greeted them, grinning ear to ear. She had a huge new party hat covering her mane, and it appeared as if she’d dyed her tail green. It was actually Gummy, who’d latched on tight to Pinkie’s flank, tail and all. “Gosh,” Applejack gasped a bit, “Gummy sure is getting’ big.” “You wouldn’t believe it! His teeth started growing in and I’ve just had to pull ‘em back out. Oh, but you’re here, and now the party can really get started!” Pinkie bounced away. The two followed slowly behind the pink pony, and headed towards the food on the table. Twilight was already there, her quill and a piece of parchment raised up into the air. “Girls, really glad to see you. I don’t know what you could possibly have to tell us, but I’m sure it could be something really awesome to tell Princess Celestia about,” Twilight told them and winked. “Heh, yeah,” Rainbow Dash tried to keep her cool. When they were out of sight of everyone for a minute, Rainbow Dash nuzzled up to Applejack. “Ohmygosh, AJ, I can’t do this here. What if they don’t like it? What if they think it’s unnatural? Is Twilight ok with that? Rarity? What if it ruins Pinkie Pie’s party!?” Rainbow Dash poured out all her worries. “Whoa, sugarcube,” Applejack said, and pecked her on the cheek, “ You told me not long ago that I was the most honest pony you knew. Well ya’lls the bravest ah know, and ah couldn’t love you more for it. Plus, it’s a party fer us, so I doubt it’d ruin anything.” They took a few minutes just to comfort each other, gathering their courage for the night ahead. Everyone was going to be there soon, including the rest of the Apple family. Big Macintosh had never been one to talk about relationships, so his presence worried Applejack just a bit. Dash let her fears go, and stood up strong. Applejack was right; they could do this, as long as they did this together. They headed back to rejoin the party. “Well, this is an interesting development, darlings,” Rarity said, moments after hearing the news from the couple. “I think its super duper special awesome!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up and down as usual. “I, um, had an idea,” Twilight said, trying to hide the fact that she already knew. “Um, excuse me Twilight, but I think you are a very bad liar,” Fluttershy surprised everyone by saying, then said, “Oh, and Angel and I are very happy for you two.” Twilight turned a shade of red only rivaled by Rainbow Dash’s mane. Her jaw nearly touched the floor. The other ponies in the room just laughed. “It’s just like one of those amazing love stories I found in Twilight’s library!” Pinkie Pie shouted, “Despite great tragedy, love rises from the ashes! And where fire claimed the Apple family’s orchard, the fire of Rainbow Dash’s love burned brighter!” “Heh, well ah just hope I don’t get burned,” Applejack gave a hesitant laugh, obviously disturbed by the mention of the fire. Twilight gave Pinkie a nudge, and then took her aside for a moment to explain why her comments may not have been in the best taste. Rainbow Dash fell back on an old favorite, and said “Pinkie Pie, you’re so random.” Suddenly, an odd feeling hit Rainbow Dash. The dream from that morning began to flash through her head, reminding her yet again of her own mistakes. She tried to brush it off, and keep her composure, but her mind kept showing her the horrible images of Applejack being overcome by the torrent of fire. Rainbow could hear the voice in the back of her mind, slowly creeping back in amongst the noise of the party. She didn’t want to hear it, and began to try and clutter her mind with other things. She walked away from her friends for a moment, trying not to make anything appear wrong. She could feel a single tear as it slid down her cheek. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and tried sucking it all back in. Now wasn’t a good time for any of this. Luckily, Applejack had been distracted by something, and hadn’t had time to see if anything was wrong. The tear had slipped down to her lower jaw, and hung limply from her face. When it finally fell, Rainbow was certain no one had seen anything. Pinkie Pie popped up next to Dash without warning, a look of concern on her face. “Hey Dashie, are you crying?” she asked the cyan Pegasus, “Is something wrong with the party? Oh, I know something is wrong with the party!” The pink pony turned away as if she was going to try to fix something she was not sure of, when Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie’s mane in her mouth, and pulled her back. “No, Pinkie, everything’s great!” Rainbow Dash had to nearly lie through her teeth. “I’m just a little overwhelmed, that’s all. Things couldn’t have gone better, and it couldn’t have been any cooler.” A big smile crossed Pinkie’s face. “Oh Good! I was worried there was something wrong with my party! I mean it was so good it made you cry!” With that, Pinkie hopped off to mingle with the other ponies. Dash let out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t lost her cool, and that Pinkie was oblivious to the truth. She did have to give Pinkie credit though; the sudden interruption by her had completely wiped the dreams from Dash’s mind. Trying to keep her head clear, Dash went back to where the festivities were still going on. Meanwhile, Applejack was preoccupied with her own issues. She had been a little put off by Pinkie Pie’s comments, and while she was sure that the pink earth pony had said it all with the best intentions, she had gotten to thinking about everything her family had lost. Now Applejack had retreated to a corner herself so that no one saw her sudden onset of depression. For a moment she completely forgot about Rainbow Dash, instead focusing her mind on all the good times she’d had at the orchard in the past. She had even met Rainbow Dash there, although at the time she’d thought she was a free-loading apple thief. A long shadow fell across Applejack, making her wake from her daydreams. She looked up to see her big brother standing tall over her. She stood up on all four hooves, and looked up into his face. “Yer lookin’ like you could use somepony ta talk too,” Big Macintosh said, not breaking from his usual demeanor. “Maybe ah am,” Applejack said with long sigh, “It ain’t nothin’ really, just thinkin’ about the farm and everything.” “Eeyup, I have every day since,” Big Macintosh told her, “But we all have ta move on. And I think ya’ll have been doin’ the best o’ all of us.” Big Macintosh scanned his gaze around the room, stopping on a happy Applebloom and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, no doubt devising another scheme to get their cutie marks. He saw Granny Smith rocking in a chair Pinki Pie had sat out especially for her. He saw all of Applejack’s friends, and some other ponies from town laughing and dancing and having a good time. His gaze returned to Applejack. “All these other ponies are here fer you and yer friend,” he said, “And that’s some good support. Cheer up little sister.” Applejack knew Big Macintosh was right. She smiled and through her front legs around his neck and gave him a big hug. She held him close for a moment, and then released him to go back to the others. She didn’t notice the tears rolling down his face as she did, he himself finally losing to his own internal struggles. It didn’t take long for the big red pony to return to normal though, and he too went back to enjoy a little more of the party. Hours later, the party had died down to just a few of the ponies remaining. Rainbow Dash had stayed behind to help Pinkie clean up, while Fluttershy had left with Big Macintosh to help Granny Smith back to her room at Fluttershy’s cottage. Rarity and Twilight had both left early, each having something to do early on the following day. “Another successful Pinkie Pie party,” Rainbow patted the pink earth pony on the back. “Couldn’t ta went any better, sugarcube,” Applejack told her. “Oh thanks guys, but it was all for you! I’m just happy to help!” she exclaimed, and gleefully bounced around. They said their goodbyes and headed out into the cool night air. “I’m always worn out after one of Pinkie’s parties,” Rainbow Dash told Applejack. “Yeah, but, ya know, ah don’t think ah’m ready ta hit the hay yet,” Applejack told her, seemingly los tin thought. “Is…is something wrong AJ?” Dash asked. “ No, but, just, a beautiful night like tonight reminds me of sittin’ in the orchard, watching moon rise under the stars.” Rainbow hadn’t really been paying attention to her surroundings, but suddenly her eyes were drawn to Luna’s huge moon in the sky, surrounded by millions of twinkling lights. With everypony in town asleep, the moon and stars were the only thing illuminating the path back to Twilight’s library. “You know, we could get a better view,” Rainbow suggested. They slipped quietly inside the library, hoping Twilight might still be awake. They slipped into her room, and found the purple unicorn passed out on a pile of books. “Twilight…”Dash whispered in her ear. “Maybe we shouldn’t wake her,” Applejack tried to whisper to Rainbow. “Hey TWILIGHT!” Rainbow suddenly screamed. Twilight jumped awake and fell off her chair. Her head thudded hard against the ground. “Ouch, sorry Twilight,” Rainbow Dash tried to cover her mistake, “We, uh, just came in and saw you sleeping there, and thought maybe you needed to get some sleep in a real bed.” Groggy, Twilight stood up and shook off the pain in her head. Rainbow smiled a toothy smile, than boldly asked, “But, uh, we were wondering if you could do us a favor?” “It really is beautiful up here,” Applejack told her, snuggling next to Rainbow Dash. The two were now perched on top of a cloud overlooking all of Ponyville. The moon and stars were closer than Applejack had ever been able to see them before. A tinge of envy hit her, that all this time she’d never been able to see a night like this with such magnificence as she could now, and yet Rainbow Dash could anytime and yet never took the time to notice. “Ya know, Applejack, I was thinking, since the magic’s good for a day or two, you want to crash at my place tonight?” Rainbow asked her. “Why Rainbow Dash, ah thought ya’d never ask,” Applejack smiled and gave a playful tug at Rainbow’s mane. They sat in silence for a bit longer, before Rainbow Dash knelt down and motioned for Applejack to climb onto her back. Wings stretched out, Rainbow Dash dropped down and soared over Ponyville, before swooping up, and landing in the front yard of her cloud home. She walked up to the door, and opened it for the orange earth pony. Applejack smiled and tipped her hat to the Pegasus. They both laughed, and headed inside. Although it was quite late, the night had only begun for the two.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 3The light of the setting sun shone through the window-like arches of Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. The orange light caused the white fluffy clouds brighten into beautiful orange plumes. It was a sight Applejack couldn’t imagine, or wouldn’t have been able to had she been awake. Their time together had lasted well into the day, and now both had slept soundly through the afternoon hours. Rainbow Dash was the first to stir, slowly opening her eyes and adjusting to the waning light. All around her was the orange light of Celestia’s setting sun. It almost reminded her of… “Fire!” she screeched and jump from her cloud bed in a panic. Her eyes wide, her heart pounding, she look all around, ready to escape. Then she turned to applejack in bed, who she half expected to have some horrible deformity like her dreams had shown her recently. Pulling back the clouds revealed her friend, her lover, sleeping very peacefully despite Dash’s outburst. Dash calmed down, and realized just what was going on around her. For the moment she plopped down on the floor and waited for her heart rate to drop. “Whew,” she sighed, “It must be getting late already. Did we really stay up that long?” Dash thought back on the past night and smirked. No matter what her friends knew about the two, she was sure neither of them would ever tell them about that night, nor the ones Dash thought were sure to follow. But she knew she hated how she had been feeling. Something was causing her to dream these awful things, and she had suddenly begun to develop very irrational fears. The voice in her head once again began to make itself known. Are you really that stupid to think you don’t know where this is all coming from? It asked her. Dash managed to stop herself from answering it out loud. Besides the fact she was becoming very afraid of scaring Applejack, she realized just how crazy it was to be to keep answering herself. She tried to ignore it. Do you think she’ll still love you when she knows the truth? She continued to feign ignorance, pacing back and forth across the darkening clouds of her home. It seemed night was already fast approaching. “You’ve said this before,” Dash snapped through her teeth. “Do you really think you’re so cool, trying to make me feel so bad, so guilty?” I don’t feel anything at all. After all, I’m just a voice…I’m just …you. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to hear this now, or ever. She glanced back and Applejack who was still sleeping soundly. Without any thought to what she was doing or where she was going, Rainbow Dash stretched her wings and rose into the air. With a quick burst she bolted through the clouds and into the cool air of the early night. And when she was far enough away from her home and from the listening ears of Ponyville, she screamed. Every fiber of her body cried out into the night, every bit of pent up hate for herself, every bit of sadness poured out into this outburst. She brought herself down from the sky and landed on the cool grass near the edge of the Everfree Forest. She dropped onto her stomach and covered her face with her hooves. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she sobbed hard into the ground. “What is wrong with me?!” she sobbed, “I feel like I’m going crazy!” She pounded the ground with one of her hooves, trying to get some hold on herself. She did not want to have to keep feeling this way. However, she was now way too afraid of losing the mare she loved to admit her wrong doings. “It wasn’t even really my fault,” she sobbed, “Why are you…why am I punishing myself so hard?” Suddenly she heard hoof-steps from somewhere behind her. Dash quickly sat up, trying to quickly clear her face. She could feel her cheeks were hot as the tears made dark spots on her cyan fur, however it was not easily noticeable in the moonlight. She turned towards the sound. “If anyone is out there, come out now! I’m not in the mood to play right now!” she tried to sound brave, but her voice noticeably cracked over a few words; she’d made herself very hoarse. More hoof-steps and a momentary rustle of the bushes put Rainbow Dash even more on edge. She was in no mood to have to fight anything or anypony. Suddenly Twilight Sparkle emerged from the forest. “Oh Twilight, it’s just you,” Dash said with the briefest sigh of relief. “Well nice to see you too,” Twilight gave with some fake snark in her voice. “Oh no, I just was hoping it wasn’t something horrible coming out of there. Do you always go to Zecora’s so late?” “I try not to since I got turned to stone by that Cockatrice that time, but Zecora sent me a message that she urgently needed a book from my library. Seems a relative from her home is very sick and she didn’t have the recipe she needed.” Dash couldn’t hide looking a little depressed, but tried her best to keep up her appearance for Twilight. “I was on my way back,” Twilight began to tell her, “And I heard horrible noises. I thought somepony screamed. I hurried back as fast as I could. Was that you, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight began to look concerned. “Geeze Twilight, you know me. I was just out enjoying the moon rising. A little night air on my wings always feels nice.” She was able to cover for herself. “And you didn’t hear anything?” Twilight asked, perplexed. “Nope, not a thing. Maybe you should get your ears checked Twilight. With all that reading, I thought sure your eyesight would go first,” Dash gave fake teasing laugh at her remark. Twilight ignored the comment and said, “Where’s Applejack? I haven’t seen you two apart in weeks.” “Still sleeping at my place,” Rainbow blushed a little, her mind drifting back to hours previous. Twilight’s eyes drifted upwards for a moment as she began to imagine things for herself. She too blushed and quickly got her head back into reality. “Heh, I hope your time was..enjoyable,” Twilight tried to say without sounding embarrassed. Rainbow was glad Twilight was trying to learn a little about relationships from them it seemed. Twilight may have been learning about friendship, but she was still completely naïve to anything dealing with love. “Well, make sure you wake her up soon. That spell I casted won’t last forever,” Twilight reminded. Suddenly a new image crept into Dash’s head. She imagined Applejack, still sleeping in the comfy cloud bed, slowly sinking through the layers, through the floor, and then plummeting to the ground below. Dash didn’t want to imagine what would happen when she hit the bottom. “Well, uh, it was nice talking with ya Twilight. I’d better be getting back,” Dash said quickly. Before Twilight could even manage a goodbye, Rainbow Dash had taken to the skies and disappeared into the night. She wasn’t sure why, but Rainbow Dash had suddenly become very fearful of heading back inside the house. Twilight’s comment on her magic had not sat well with her, and now she was afraid if she went inside Applejack wouldn’t be there. After a few minutes she decided the thoughts of her best friend falling to her doom somewhere in Ponyville weren’t helping her already fractured mental state, and went inside. She called out for Applejack, but got no answer. Dash moved quickly to the bedroom, peeking her head through the doorway. The room was empty. “Ohmygosh, no!” she cried out. She tore through the clouds that made up her floor, and began searching frantically for signs of a body, or an impact. The moonlight of Luna’s moon made the search easier, but Dash still turned up nothing. She circled the surrounding area several times. Finally, she decided to head back up to her home. She hadn’t given it a thorough check after all. Sure enough when Dash came back, Applejack was sitting on a chair in the bedroom, a tuft of her mane clutched in her mouth as she tried to fix her braids. Dash tackled her quickly to the floor. “Woah sugarcube!” Applejack was quick to say, “What’s all this?” “Oh thank Celestia, your alive!” Dash was quick to cry out, tears swelling in her eyes. “Well o’course ah am,” Applejack gave a bewildered smile. “I didn’t think anything we did was that bad.” Dash couldn’t help but laugh at Applejack’s statement. She pulled Applejack close and gave her a quick kiss. Afterwards, she let Applejack go and proceeded to explain why she’d reacted as such. “I just wanted to go for a quick fly around Ponyville, “she said, skirting around her real reasons for leaving, “and ran into Twilight. We talked for a few minutes, until she reminded me of the spell, and so I came back. You’d gotten out of bed, so my mind went a little nuts.” “Well, Ah can’t be mad ay ya fer caring,” Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder, “But don’t be overreactin’ so much. Ah can still take care o’ myself.” Applejack snuggled up to Dash, trying to comfort her. Dash felt more peaceful than she had since she’d awoken. She nudged Applejack, and before the orange earth pony knew it, she was back on Rainbow’s back and soaring down towards Ponyville. They swooped over Sugarcube Corner, and passed Rarity’s Boutique. They landed in front of Twilight’s library. “Ya know, after all that, Ah’ve been asleep way too long ta be tired,” she told Dash. “What say we give Princess Luna’s beautiful night a little more respect.” Dash couldn’t pass up a second with Applejack, so there they sat, amdist the waning lights of the Ponyville ponies, under one of the biggest moons they’d been able to see. Soon Twilight noticed the couple and came outside. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said shyly, “But a message came for you today Applejack.” Applejack opened the scroll, which the writer had obviously had some help writing. Suddenly, Applejack gasped…
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 4“Eeyup,” was all Big Macintosh could manage to get in between the protests of his little sister. The night before Applejack had just received the letter from Twilight, and she’d waited until morning to confront Big Macintosh about its contents. With her sleep cycle thrown off by the time she’d recently spent with Rainbow Dash, Applejack had had plenty of time to think about what she wanted to say to him. Not much of it had actually made it out of her mouth though, as she mostly kept repeating the same concerns she had over and over, never giving Big Macintosh room to explain. “Did ya think about anypony else’s feelings?” Applejack nearly screamed at him. She’d been fairly confident when she started, but after a solid half-hour of attacking Big Macintosh, she could feel everything starting to slip. Her mind kept going between the time she’d been spent with Rainbow Dash and what she’d read the night before on the piece of parchment. Dear Applejack, It may be hard for me to say this, and I know it’ll be even harder for you to accept, but very soon I’m moving the Apple Family out of Ponyville. The mess from the fire is cleaned up, but it’ll just take too long to get a crop going again. I’ve got plans on how to make things better though. Granny Smith is getting on up in her years, and I’ve decided that she needs more than this in her last years alive. That’s why I’ve arranged for the Oranges to take her in at their home in Manehatten. They’ve already said they’d do the best they can to give her the good life before….well, I trust them well enough. I know you’ve been preoccupied lately, and I want you to be happy, so I regret not having discussed it with you. However, I’ve decided I’m taking Applebloom with me, and we’ll be heading out to Appleoosa. Braeburn has a perfect plot of land that was part of his father’s farm he’s willing to share with us. It has everything we used to have, and we’ll still have friends to help us out over there. I know Applebloom isn’t fond of leaving her friends, but she seems to think it may be for the best too. I know this won’t be easy, but I want you with me. The Apple family just isn’t the same without you, and after everything that’s happened to us, it would hurt a lot to see you leave us. Think it over, would you? With Love, Big Macintosh When Applejack had first read the note, she knew that Big Macintosh had had some help. Twilight seemed just as shocked when she read the note, so Applejack figured she hadn’t had anything to do with it. Whoever had written it had captured Big Mac’s sincerity, but had likely added a word here or there and didn’t even try to write it in the way Big Macintosh usually spoke. Not that any of that was important. She’d snuggled with Dash for a few moments, kissed her goodnight, and went inside. Twilight had remained a few minutes longer to ask Dash a question, but came in not long afterwards.. Applejack could tell that having Rainbow Dash leave had caused her some hurt, but she needed the time to herself, and she had to unfortunately assume that with Dash around, she’d have a more biased opinion of the matter, rather than thinking over a well thought out decision.Regardless, Applejack had met Big Macintosh in Fluttershy’s garden, and tore into him immediately. “Do ya think Granny Smith really wants to leave?” she asked him sternly, “Do ya think Applebloom really wants to go farm in Appleoosa?” Finally Big Macintosh cut in, “Can ya really blame me? Ah haven’t seen ya in days Applejack! Ah’m sure I could guess where ya’ve been, but the point is, it ain’t helpin’ none of us.” Applejack couldn’t believe she had heard what sounded like such an insensitive thing from her big brother. “Tell me Applejack, how many bits have ya’ll got now?” he asked “Um, ah’ve got about forty bits,” she told him confidently. “And ah’ve got about two hundred bits,” he told her, “But ah had more. We still gotta eat, and I a’int gonna let us take anymore from Ms. Fluttershy than we are already are havin’ ta. Not ta mention the things Applebloom keeps getting’ into at Rarity’s.” “The ponies ‘round Ponyville know us, Macintosh! Ya’ll know they never overcharge us!” “But it ain’t gonna last sweetie,” he said sternly, “And ya need to take off whatever’s been blindin’ your eyes and take a look into the real world for a second.” “The real world? Ah live in the real world, Macintosh! I haven’t found anything more real than what ah’ve got right now! Ah know what’s real!” “All ah’m hearing is yer silly filly romance getting’ into yer head. No matter how much ya love somepony, foolin’ with them everyday all day ain’t makin’ us any richer.” Macintosh didn’t really mean to sound so harsh, but the words still managed to cut deep. `Applejack couldn’t reply. She could not believe the things she wa shearing out of her brother’s mouth. And she realized that she really couldn’t say anything else. “Ah got things ta take care of here still, we’re leavin’ in two weeks. If ya’ll gonna come, let me know. I’m sorry it’s got ta be like this, but it’s what’s best fer the Apple family.” Big Macintosh turned away from Applejack, not giving her any indication that it had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to say in his life. He knew what she was doing now, but he didn’t want to see her tears dripping down her into her orange fur. He didn’t want to see that hurt expression again. He’d seen it in the past, when she was still a filly, and seeing it never got any easier. Big AMcintosh nudged open the Fluttershy’s door, and gave it a small kick to close it, leaving Applejack standing in the garden, alone. Rainbow Dash was alone, somewhere dark. She couldn’t see anything around her. Suddenly, 6 lights shone down around her. Inside each circle of light was a different colored Pegasus pony; red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple. They each had different expressions on their faces: the red one looked angry; the blue, sad; the green pony looked scared. The yellow one looked happy, while the orange one looked confident, and finally the purple one looked simply calm. Even for a pony that admitted she didn’t understand a lot of things like Rainbow Dash, she easily understood that each pony was a color of her mane, and each one represented a certain personality trait. “I’ve seen this thing in the comic books Twilight keeps in her library a hundred times,” Dash said confidently. “It’s not going to scare me!” As she spoke the words, the orange pony mouthed her words exactly. It managed to unsettle Dash, but only briefly. “Do you like them?” a voice came from the dark, a very familiar voice. “Wha-who are you?” Dash tried to remain calm, her eyes darting past the other ponies, searching the blackness for a sign of somepony else. This time, the green Pegasus began the sentence, but was finished again by the orange pony. “Aren’t the wonderful? And the best part is, I can always tell through them just how you’re really feeling. You’re so easy to read though Rainbow Dash,” the voice continued, “I don’t think I really need them.” “Come out, show me if you really have the guts!” Rainbow Dash yelled into the darkness, the red pony mouthing her words this time. Without warning, Rainbow Dash was suddenly face to face with herself, only it wasn’t exactly herself. The pony was black, completely, with brown eyes. Her mane was only two colors: the center being a charcoal grey, with a red stripe running down each side. “So nice to see you like this, Rainbow Dash,” the black pony said, her voice not decidedly feminine, but not the voice of a colt either. “”Y-y-y-You…you can’t be real,” Rainbow stammered, trying to collect her thoughts. The green pony mouthed the words. “Ah, but you believe I am. That is why you listen to me. That is why you argue with me,” the black pony replied. “I hate that feeling of being watched, don’t you?” The black pony swished her mane, and the colored ponies faded away. The lights flickered out, leaving a single beam that illuminated Dash and what she began to think of as her inner demon. “Much better,” the demon said, “Now…it's time we had a talk. Do you think I like hurting you Rainbow Dash? Do you think I like seeing those salty tears stain that beautiful coat of your night after night? Do you think I like watching you tear yourself apart over the problems you caused?” Dash was confused. She was sure she hadn’t had many times that everything had gotten to her. She remembered the recent night when she had left Applejack in her house. She remembered the horrible dreams she’d had…but had there been more? Was she blocking out other things, only remembering what she absolutely had to? Rainbow Dash suddenly realized her mind could possibly be her worst enemy. “I don’t care what you think,” Dash tried to keep her cool. “Why should I? I’ve told you, or I’ve told myself, a hundred times all I need are my friends. Especially Applejack! No matter what, they will understand me!” “Suit yourself, you stupid little filly,” the demon told her, “But I’ll always be there, waiting. And when it all comes crashing down on you, I’ll have no reason to stay, but I'll laugh the whole way out. And you’ll be left, knowing I was right all along.” And with that, the black Pegasus disappeared into the darkness, shattering the beam of light, and casting Rainbow Dash into an eternal darkness. Rainbow Dash bolted up from her bed. Once again it had been a dream, a horrible dream she that had once again felt so real. She half expected to hear the voice of her inner demon to creep into her mind to hurt her more, but after a few moments she felt relieved that she heard nothing. She climbed out of her cloud bed and stretched her wings. Despite how unsettled she felt, she could feel that something was missing. She knew it was Applejack. By the time Dash had flown down to Ponyville, the argument between Applejack and Big Macintosh had already taken place. High in the sky, she scanned the surroundings, trying to think of where she might have gone. It wasn’t long before she saw the orange pony trotting slowly home, with a look of extreme sadness on her face. Rainbow hovered for a few moments, suddenly wondering if Applejack even wanted to see anypony right now. She watched her all the way back to the library, then Dash descended slowly. When she was on the ground, she walked nervously up to the door. She got ready to knock, but since Twilight allowed anypony into the library, Dash decided to just come on in. Twilight noticed her as she slipped in. “Rainbow Dash! You look well rested now,” she said cheerfully, “Did you have a good night?” “Yeah, sure,” she told her quickly, “Did Applejack come back yet?” “I think she slipped in a minute ago, but I was face first into a great book on just how many uses carrots have,” she told Dash, levitating a yellow book with a big carrot on the cover towards her. “That’s uh, great Twilight,” she tried to sound interested, “But I think I really need to go talk to Applejack.” Twilight nodded, and Dash headed to the back. She nudged open Applejack’s door, and found a scene that seemed very similar to her. She pushed the door closed with her hoof, and cautiously walked around the side of the bed. Applejack briefly looked up at her. “Oh, hey sugarcube,” she smiled weakly. Not a good sign, Dash thought to herself. Dash climbed up onto the bed and dropped down beside Applejack. Rainbow opened her right wing and wrapped it around Applejack, pulling her close. Applejack could feel the heat of Rainbow Dash’s body against her coat. It made her feel…calmer. “Tell me what happened,” Dash looked concerned as she spoke. “Ah will,” she told her, her eyes shut tightly as tears began to leak down her cheeks. “Just hold me, fer a while, will ya Rainbow?” Rainbow smiled and wrapped her fore-hoof around Applejack’s neck. Adding to Rainbow’s almost déjà vu-like feeling of how things were playing out around her, the two sat in silence for over an hour. Every so often Applejack would cry just a little and try to pull herself back together. Finally, she decided she felt like talking. “Why is it, when ah’m feelin’ my happiest, soemthin’ always has to try and come in between me an that?” Applejack asked Dash through a few stray tears. Dash felt them drip onto the back of her mane, but she didn’t mind. She sat and thought about the question for a moment. “I don’t think anything is trying to hurt you AJ. Its just the world. No matter how great it can be, it can always be bad. I’ve had my fair share of problems in life. Don’t get me started on flight school.” Applejack chuckled a little, “Alright sugarcube, enough tears from me. I know this ain’t helpin’ you none.” With that, Applejack wiped away the last of her tears and began her story, starting with what the letter had said. She told everything, from her night alone, to the argument with Big Macintosh. Rainbow Dash held on to every word, taking in every emotion and trying to as supportive as she could. When it was all finished, Rainbow could only stare in disbelief. “Big Macintosh really said all those things?” Rainbow asked her. “Yeah…and ya know, Ah don’t exactly blame ‘em. It hurts somethin’ awful, but between me bein’ depressed and bein’ in love, ah haven’t done much to help out the family.” She sighed and looked down at the floor. “Are…are you saying you don’t want to be in love,” Dash suddenly had a horrible feeling inside herself. “O’course not,” she quickly looked back up to Dash, “All Ah’m saying is that maybe ah should’ve realized that the family was probably in just as bad a state as me, and while you were there fer me, I wasn’t there for anypony else.” Dash tried to give a small smile, but thinking that Applejack might have been wishing they’d spent less time together still made her heart hurt incredibly bad. “Oh,” Dash said sounding somewhat distant, “that makes sense.” Applejack put her hooves to Dash’s face, and looked into her wide eyes. “Nothing can ever make me want you less,” she put her face closer. Dash’s heart fluttered, suddenly feeling much better, and yet, something inside of her suddenly made her feel even worse. She had an idea of what that something was, but she tried to ignore it. Without anymore words, Dash put her lips to Applejack’s, and embraced her in the most passionate kiss she had ever given anyone. After a few moments, Rainbow pulled away and just stared into Applejack’s glowing face. She couldn’t imagine a more beautiful pony, and nor anypony else she’d rather spend the rest of her life with. Then suddenly, Rainbow Dash got an idea.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 5The sun rose like it had every morning over Sweet Apple Acres. However, Celestia’s sun just didn’t have the same effect as it had when the beautiful orchard still remained. Five ponies were had been awaiting the sun to come up, and were now sitting below one of the remaining apple trees. It was quite obvious they’d sacrificed a few more hours of sleep for something. “Oh, I’m going to get rings under my eyes if I don’t get my proper amount of sleep,” Rarity whined, but no one seemed to mind. “And then I’ll look just dreadful!” Fluttershy had made a special visit to a sick family of swans that lived in a pond in Ponyville. She’d spent nearly all night mixing up her special medicinal blends for them, and now she couldn’t help but pass in the dirt. The others were surprised by how loudly she was snoring. Twilight had cast an energy spell on herself, and she seemed to be feeling fine, but she knew that once it wore off she’d crash faster than a one-winged Pegasus trying to make a sonic rainboom. Pinkie Pie was her usually bubbly self even at this time of the morning. Applejack sat just a little ways away from the rest of them. She hadn’t managed any sleep at all. She knew she shouldn’t be worried, but she was still letting things get to her. Two days ago, Rainbow Dash had concocted some sort of plan, and seemed very sure that whatever it was would work. The next day she stayed most of the day with Applejack, but shortly after the moon had begun to creep into the sky, Dash had told her she’d be leaving for the night, but for her and the other four ponies to meet her at Sweet Apple Acres at sunrise. And so here they all were, and yet, no Rainbow Dash. “Are you sure Dash said to meet us here?” Twilight asked, not trying to sound like she was complaining. “Yeah, she did. Ah wonder where that pony ran off ta,” Applejack tried to hide the concerned tone in her voice. “I just hope it’s a super duper surprise Dashie has planned!” Pinkie gleefully said, grinning ear to ear. “Pinkie, darling, how ever are you so chipper this early in the morning?” Rarity asked. “Well gosh, I don’t really know. I’d probably be worried if I wasn’t,” Pinkie answered. And so another twenty minutes passed, and Dash still did not show up. The others who were awake noticed the growing look sadness on Applejack’s face. “I’m sure everything is fine,” Twilight trotted over to her, “Dash is the Element of Loyalty after all. She’ll come through with whatever she’s doing.” Applejack tried to smile, but said nothing. She stared up into the sky as the golden streaks began to cascade across the sky. It reminded of when this was home. She wished she could be seeing the beautiful morning from the windows of her old home. Applejack however shook away the saddening thoughts, and tried to appreciate the sunrise all the same…and that is when she noticed the one tiny cloud in the sky. She could see the tip of a cyan wing hanging off the side of it. “Well Ah’ll be…”Applejack said through clenched her teeth. Applejack walked back over to the apple tree, and bucked a single apple from its branches. She lightly picked it up with her mouth and trotted back to where the little cloud was. She tossed the apple over her head and bucked it into the sky. The apple sailed through the little cloud, and collided with Rainbow Dash’s head. She let out a cry and tumbled off the cloud and down to the ground. She landed with a large thud. “Ow Applejack, what was that…oh…its morning,” she quickly realized. “Ya’ll had me worried all night, thinking you might be gettin’ inta trouble, and here ya are, sleeping in while we all came to see what the big idea ya had was,” Applejack scolded her. “I was out all night, doing just that AJ,” she put her head down and tried to look sincere, “But it got really late and I finally had what I needed, so I decided to wait here. And I fell asleep.” Applejack narrowed her eyes and Rainbow Dash backed hesitantly away. “…Alright sugarcube, I believe ya,” Applejack told her, pulling her close into warm embrace, and giving her an almost sloppy kiss, which made Rarity a little uneasy. When it was over, Rainbow turned to the other ponies and said, “Sorry girls, I uh, didn’t mean to make you wait. But I had this great idea, and I knew it just had to happen.” Dash reached into the saddlebags she was wearing, and began pulling out various papers and such. Soon she had them spread all over the ground. “Everyone, for the first great, awesome idea by Rainbow Dash, I give you Sweet Apple Acres 2!” Dash announced, rolling out the parchment showing various drawings of different things. Some of it was very crudely drawn, but Pegasus and Earth ponies were not well known for their abilities to draw or write. “2?” twilight said skeptically. “It’s a work in progress,” Rainbow said, a big smile on her face. Applejack however, hadn’t reacted yet. She looked over all the papers, gathering her thoughts. “Look,” Dash said to her, seeing her mixed emotions, “None of us want you to leave, especially me most of all. And, that’s why I asked everypony here. It will take some time, but I was us to build this. I want this to be our home AJ.” Applejack gave her a smile, and Dash could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “Oh Rainbow, this reall is amazin’!” Applejack told her, and nuzzled against her rainbow mane. “I had it all planned out,” Dash began to tell them, “Twilight, you’re book smart, so I figured you could make up the real blueprints to build the house and the barn.” “I’d be honored to help,” Twilight told them happily. “Rarity,” Dash turned to the white Unicorn, “I tried to draw some ideas, but I’d really like you to be in charge of painting and decorating.” Rarity began looking over the designs for a moment, then looked to Dash and said, “These are good…but they could stand to be about 20% cooler.” Dash was taken aback by Rarity’s humor for a moment, but she laughed all the same and continued on. “Fluttershy,” she said to the sleeping Pegasus, “Well, I’ll repeat this later. But we’ll need wood, and we’ll probably have to get some from the forest. You’ll be in charge of making sure we don’t hurt any animals. And Pinkie Pie, you’ll be in charge of minor farming duties. We want to get this orchard growing again, so someone has to plant the seeds!” Pinkie put her hoof up in salute, and gave another large grin. “And last, AJ and I will gather the wood. Applejack is the strongest pony I know, and I can rainboom an area of trees to get them down in no time.” No one seemed to have any problems with Dash’s idea. However, seeing as Dash hadn’t gotten any of the supplies ready, they decided to begin at a slightly later time the next day. That night, Twilight made a special dinner for Applejack and Rainbow Dash, using her best romantic magic to set the mood for the two. When everything was perfect, Twilight quickly ducked out of the library, and went to spend some time with Rarity. The dinner itself was only known of by Rainbow Dash, another surprise she had planned for Applejack. Dash lead her lover into the main area, which was now dimly lit by two flickering white candles. The candles were setting upon Twilight’s table, which was covered food. Various apple-themed treats sat on one side, while hay sandwiches, fruit and vegetable salad, and corn on the cob sat on the other side. Applejack’s mouth began to water as all the smells assaulted her senses. Her stomach rumbled as she tried to control her cravings. Applejack wasn’t the most formal pony, even in times of romance. Dash pulled her chair out and allowed Applejack to sit down, and then Dash took her seat across the table from her. “Ya really didn’t have ta set all this up Rainbow,” Applejack said, eyeing the Apple Fritters. “You know Ah love our simple dinners together.” “Yeah, but this is nice too, right?” Dash said, suddenly afraid she’d made a mistake and had Twilight make the dinner too fancy. “O’course it is, sugarcube,” Applejack said thoughtfully. As dinner went on the two talked over various subjects. Dash suddenly began to feel very tired, the hours of sleep she had failed to get the night before had begun to catch up. While she tried her best to listen to Applejack, she found herself staring intently into the candles on the table. The orange flames danced and flickered in her gaze. For a moment, she swore she could see them make the images she’d seen in her dreams. Suddenly, one of the candles sparked. The tiny flame produced bounced off the table and landed on an open book in the corner. The pages slowly began to singe, and soon the book was engulfed. The flames began to quickly spread to the other tomes of the library. “Applejack!” Dash cried out as the orange pony seemed to be completely oblivious to the danger around them. Dash tried to move from her spot and grab Applejack, but she suddenly felt frozen in place. Her eyes darted every which way, as the flames crackled and popped, and continued to engulf every page of every book in Twilight’s library. Applejack continued to talk, seemingly unaware of the danger that was rapidly approaching them. “Applejack, please, look around you!” Rainbow Dash cried out, flapping her wings and trying to make her hooves move from their spot. Gravity seemed as if it had turned against Rainbow Dash however, and she stayed fixed in place. The flames were now right behind Applejack, twisting and turning until they formed the face of a large demonic entity. It laughed and laughed at Dash’s misfortune as it got ever closer to Applejack. Dash could smell the scent of hair burning as it first caught Applejack’s mane. With a sudden rush, the flames pushed forward and burned Applejack from Equestria, forever. “Rainbow!” a voice cried out as the cyan Pegasus shot up. She could feel something wet on her face that was quickly becoming caked into her fur. “Uhhhh,” she strained to figure out what was going on. She quickly looked around, her eyes adjusting to the low light that was illuminating the room. She was still in Twilight’s library, and still having the nice dinner she’d planned, but with a very unhappy-looking earth pony across from her. “Rainbow Dash, did ya not get back ta sleep when we came back this mornin’?” Applejack asked her. “If ya needed the sleep hun, ya’ll didn’t have to have this dinner for me.” After a few seconds, Dash realized that she’d been having another one of the horrible dreams that had plagued her sleep lately. However, this time she’d been so tired she had passed out in the middle of dinner. The wetness she was feeling had come from the sauce on her food, which she’d passed out into. “Sorry AJ,” she lowered her head as she spoke. “It's alright sugarcube, but maybe we should go ahead and clean up and hit the hay…after you get a bath though,” Applejack smiled to her. “Yeah,” Dash said, trying to sound better. Dash was still bothered by the dream. They were becoming more and more frequent, and her waking mind made it all the more apparent that something was wrong. “You know what’s wrong with you,” the voice of herself in her head suddenly sprang in and said. “Why don’t you just admit it Rainbow Dash, the truth about Applejack’s home. Things’ll get better. You can trust me on that…you can trust yourself, can’t you?” Dash didn’t know the answer to that question, but she decided to try and block it out. It was bad enough she was hearing voices to begin with, but if Applejack had any idea, Dash couldn’t imagine what she might say or think. She did her best to shake it away, and got up to help Applejack clean up the dishes from their meal. “I’m sorry this didn’t go like I wanted,” Dash tried to apologize. “Ya tried, and that’s all that matter,” Applejack said with a smile, “Besides, these fancy smancy things aren’t what the Rainbow Dash Ah know is known for. And that’s fine by me.” After a long night’s sleep, at the first sign of Celestia’s sun, Dash woke up feeling much better. She looked over at Applejack, still sleeping soundly on the bed. Dash climbed out with a grand feeling of excitement filling her whole body. Today would begin the rest of her life with Applejack. Everything she had ever dreamed of might finally be realized. A life together with the pony she loved…. And suddenly it hit her, for the first time in several weeks. She was happy her dreams were being realized, but at the cost of everything Applejack had. Thoughts began to fill Rainbow’s head as she dropped down on her flank near the door. She didn’t hear the voice, cutting her deep with its words, trying to toy with her emotions. She didn’t need to hear it either, as what it had said came to light as a sickening truth for Rainbow Dash: the voice was her own, a manifestation of her guilt. Her guilt was something she’d been ignoring for a very long time now. However, Dash knew she couldn’t talk to Applejack. Not now especially, with everything going so perfectly. “Stupid mare,” she said to herself, “Way to be really bucking selfish.” And yet, seeing her best friend, the mare she loved still sleeping in her bed, made her feel suddenly better and a million times worse all at the same time. Dash decided that for now, she would try to find other ways to deal with her guilt…she was not sure if anything would help her though. She tried to shake off the feelings and headed out into the library. Twilight Sparkle was already up and arranging some new books on the shelves. “Morning Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said happily, “Ready to get your plan into action? I’ve got some designs all drawn up for you to-“ she was cut off. “Twilight…” Rainbow hesitated, gathering her thoughts. She hadn’t expected that she’d want to talk with anypony, but suddenly she felt like she needed to. “Can we talk…”
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 6That morning, things had already started off better than the previous one, with everypony arriving on time, well rested, and, especially in Rarity’s case, ready to work. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood before the other ponies as they got ready for each of their tasks. “Alright,” Twilight said, laying her schematics out to show a much more refined set of designs than what Rainbow had drawn up earlier. “Fluttershy has already gone off to begin rounding up the animals. Rarity, I assume you’ll be planning the décor around my designs?” “Why of course,” Rarity said and pulled a rolle dup blanket from the saddle bag she was carrying it. Rarity laid out the blanket and dropped down onto the ground next to the plans, and began studying them intently. “It’s a good thing you know how to keep everyone organized,” Rainbow said with grin. “Yeah, I think things will go quite smoothly,” Twilight replied, and looked back at her documents. “Pinkie Pie, did you get the seeds for the trees?” “You bet!” Pinkie cried with glee, “and I convinced Caramel to give me a hand with the plowing. We’ll be done and ready to plant in no time!” The brown earth pony trotted up slowly from behind one of the apple trees that were still standing and sat next to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie wrapped her hooves around his neck and pulled him close, a squeel of glee escaping her. Caramel could only blush. Before Twilight could continue, the sound of hooves clopping up the path to the farm could be heard. The group waited in silence to see who it was; a big cloud of dust shrouded whomever was coming closer. Before long the cloud stopped just a few feet from them. “What’s this now?” Rarity asked as the dust began to settle. Standing before them was the tall red form of Big Macintosh. At his hooves were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who looked to be at the ready for whatever was asked of them. “Big Macintosh?” Applejack said surprised. “What’re ya’ll doin’ here?” “Well, Ah couldn’t help but think about all that was said between us the other day. And maybe Ah am a little bit wrong,” he lowered his head and looked away. The regret in his eyes was apparent. “So what’re ya tryin’ to say?” Applejack asked. Instead of outright answering her, Big Macintosh looked at Rainbow Dash and said, “Ah was a bit skeptical about ya’ll, Eeyup. Ah admit I’m not always the most open-minded pony. But seein’ this dedication to each other, well, Ah’m impressed. And maybe Ah’m not the one workin’ hard enough.” Scootaloo broke in, “What Big Mac won’t wrap up here is that we’re all gonna help so you can stay in Ponyville! Besides, it’s another opportunity to for us to get our cutie marks!” And so we don’t have to break up the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” “But how’d you guys know about my idea?” Rainbow Dash asked, a smile extending wide across her face. Fluttershy poked her head from the trees, and softly said, “Well…I might have had something to do with it.” Fluttershy blushed and quickly went back to rounding up the animals. Mac continued on to Rainbow for another moment, “Miss Dash, Ah’ve got a lotta faith in ya’ll, so don’t let me down. And a’specially don’t let mah sister down.” Rainbow Dash tried to put a cool look on her face, and nodded at Big Macintosh. Big Mac turned to Twilight, “So, what’re ya needed us to do Miss Twilight?” Twilight Sparkle was not very good at keeping secrets. Twilight was working extra hard to keep up with everypony else as they all went diligently about their work. Twilight knew if she didn’t then her mind would again return to everything from that morning. Once Applejack had woken up, Rainbow and her had headed out, leaving Twilight to think on everything. Knowing what her friends secrets sometimes did to her mind, she casted a spell on herself to help her focus on the day ahead. But even with this aura of determination, she still couldn’t help but dwell on her conversation with Rainbow Dash. “Lay those trunks over here!” Twilight ordered a lot more sternly than she meant. Big Macintosh pulled two large trees tied up with rope from their work area and dropped them next to Twilight. He galloped back ready for the next ones. Applejack was lassoing three trees at a time, and together, her and Rainbow Dash were pulling them out of the ground. Seeing Dash stay in one place when in a state of sonic speed was quite a sight for Twilight. However, her amazement for Dash's abilities could only go so far at the moment. She really couldn’t imagine how calm Dash seemed. Twilight knew in her own position she could never keep up such a calm and friendly demeanor around anyone she may have harmed. Dash seemed to be able to do it with no problem. Twilight now knew the torment going on inside Rainbow’s mind though, and couldn’t imagine what it must really be doing to her mental state. Before long, Twilight realized her focus spell had not been strong enough, and began to drift into her thoughts. “Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said unusually softly as she came out of Applejack’s room, “Can we talk?” “Of course Rainbow Dash! I’m always ready to help a friend in need, and maybe it’ll help with a new letter to the Princess.” “No!” Dash snapped. “Sorry about that Twilight, but…no one can know about this.” At that point Twilight was sure she should stop Rainbow Dash there. She knew whenever words like those came up, whatever was coming would eat away at her until she had to tell somepony else. But she also saw her friend standing in front of her, obviously with something weighing very heavily upon her mind. “Alright Rainbow Dash, it’ll be our secret. Now, what do you need to talk about?” From that point it took a long while before Twilight could get another word in. Dash started with that morning at Sweet Apple Acres, and how perfect everything had been. She told her about her long time feelings for Applejack, and how she couldn’t stand to see the colts that hit on her at the Apple stand. At these comments Twilight seemed to be very understanding, and couldn’t begin to understand why these would upset the cyan Pegasus. The story soon turned to the recent events that had changed Applejack’s life. She heard of the stern weather team pony and his ditzy worker, and the accident she’d created. She listened with a look of seriousness on her face when Dash told her about the reaction she had had to the colt Applejack was talking to. Although she let Dash continue talking, Twilight was, by that point, sure she knew where the story was going. She remembered talking with Dash that morning, and Rarity’s sudden entrance. At that point Dash’s story had ended, but the rest of the events continued to play out in her mind. Twilight remembered the flames leaping across the trees as the ponies stood by and watched in horror. She remembered watching Dash create the trail of rain for Applejack to rescue Winona. And Twilight couldn’t forget the expression on Applejack’s face as she came back to her friends, her fur soaked as from the rain that poured between two sides of flames. Dash set there for a moment as Twilight continued to gather her thoughts. “Uh…Twilight,” she said, sure her friend was preparing to blow up on her. Twilight sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before speaking, “Rainbow…I am not sure where to begin. I mean, this is much bigger than I could imagine. If you hadn’t come to me I never would have known. You just seem to be good old Rainbow Dash so easily to everyone.” “Twilight…” Dash said, tearing forming in her eyes, “You have no idea how hard it is. I can’t even stand myself lately! Something keeps…” Dash stopped for a moment, realizing she didn’t want Twilight to think she was crazy, “I keep telling myself I need to say something. It’s on my mind all the time. But will she hate me Twilight? I can’t lose her, not now!” Dash began to sob, the tears splashing silently onto the library floor. Twilight came closer to Dash and pulled her close with her hoof. “I won’t say anything Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, patting her back as she continued to cry. “You have to work this out though, somehow. You’re going to make yourself crazy if you don’t. I can tell you’re doing everything else to fix your mistakes. Sweet Apple Acres…er, 2 is proof enough of that.” Dash pulled away and tried to wipe the tears on her cheeks away with her forehoof. She started to give a smile when they heard the Applejack’s door begin to creak open. Applejack emerged with a yawn, and rubbed her eyes with a hoof. The first thing she saw was Rainbow Dash, tears still in her puffy reddened eyes. “What-what’s all this?” Applejack asked. “What’s a’matter Rainbow?” “No-nothing,” Rainbow said quickly, “Just I got to talking with Twilight about Sweet Apple Acres, and everything, and about how happy you had been, and, well, it just made me so happy, thinking about you being so happy.” Applejack came up and put a hoof around Rainbow, pulling her close and giving her a kiss on her cheek. “it’s alright sugarcube,” she said sweetly, “Lets get this thing going. We can all be happy when everythin’ is finished.” Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash back to the room to get some things together for the day ahead, leaving Twilight alone with a terrible feeling growing deep inside her. Everyone had began to leave for the day as the sun began to set over the site of Sweet Apple acres. Rainbow Dash and Applejack sat for a while watching the ponies begin to leave. Dash lifted herself into the air the orange earth pony. “You ready to go back, AJ? I’m beat.” “Go on ahead,” Applejack said grinning, “Ah think ah’m gonna stay here a little longer.” “You sure?” Rainbow asked her. “Ya go on and hit the hay. Ah’ll be there soon,” Dash nodded and streaked off across the sky heading for the library. Applejack continued to watch the sunset. She thought about the good times she’d once had amongst the trees. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice Big Macintosh trot up and sit beside her. “Even like this, Ah can still find some beauty in this place,” Big Mac said. Applejack snapped out of her daze, and looked up at him. “Ah know. Ah’m really happy you decided ta stay with us. It wouldn’ ta been the same without ya.” “Ah wasn’t thinkin’ too clearly,” he said, “And Ah want ta see all this finished as soon as possible. Not fer me, fer Granny Smith. She’s not doin’ well Applejack. She don’t lead on about it, but she’s not well. Ah want her to see this place lookin’ good again, just like when Pappy Smith built it fer her…and when Ma and Pa owned it.” “Ya know Big Mac, Rainbow would never know about it, but I cry almost every night. Not cause’a her, but even when she manages to make me the happiest pony in the world, I still end up thinkin’ about everything we lost in the fire. We lost every piece we had of Ma and Pa.” “Ah didn’t,” Big Mac gave a small smirk, “Ah got you an Applebloom, and that’s all I could ask fer.” Applejack leaned against her big brother as the sun began to creep below the horizon. The first stars were starting to twinkle in the twilight sky. “Yer the best Big Macintosh,” Applejack gave him a nudge which caused the pony to topple over. Big Macintosh and Applejack both started laughing. They laughed harder together than they had since they were little ponies. Rainbow Dash arrived exhausted to the library. The lights had all been turned on, so she knew Twilight was already home. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to face Twilight now, after everything she’d said this morning. Unfortunately, Dash was too tired to stand outside all night, and didn’t want to abandon Applejack for a night in her cloud home. Dash decided to just walk on in, and pushed the door without a second thought. The first thing she saw was the purple flank of Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow blushed. She didn't want Twilight thinking she had thing for her too. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, you’re back,” Twilight turned around and said, trying to not say anything upsetting. “Hey Twilight…” Dash trailed off. “Is…did you…want to talk?” Twilight asked her. “You know…it actually felt pretty good to cry for a minute,” Dash admitted, “but that’s not what us cool people do!” Dash realized that after all the crying she’d seen Applejack do, that statement made her sound like a jerk. “Sometimes it help Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said to her, “If everything is still on your mind, maybe you should do it more often.” “Yeah…” Dash said, and started trotting to the room. Dash shut the door behind, leaving Twilight alone again. Some time went before she saw the cyan Pegasus. Dash flung the door open and ran over to where Twilight was now stacking books. Tears clung to both sides of her face. “Oh Celestia, I can’t help it!” Dash sobbed, “I am so worried about what I should do. I can’t hide it like this forever!” With that, Twilight sat down on the floor next to Rainbow Dash, and once again let her cry into her mane. Applejack arrived at the library as the moon was rising into the sky. She had to admit in the short time she’d been able to see them, when Luna raised the moon there was just something a bit more special than when Celestia had been doing all the work. Applejack felt great, and couldn’t wait to snuggle into bed next to Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure what Twilight would be doing, so she nudged the door open lightly to not cause much noise. She saw Twilight through the cracked door, sitting near her table, alone…except that she wasn’t alone. Applejack saw the rainbow mane hanging off Twilight’s shoulder, Dash’s face buried into Twilight’s own mane. Applejack couldn’t tell what was going on, or why Dash was so close to Twilight. She waited a moment, watching Twilight put her own head down and give a small nuzzle to Rainbow Dash. Applejack dropped her head low, and slowly backed away into the night.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 7When Rainbow Dash awoke the next morning, Applejack was nowhere to be found. After her time with Twilight she had come back into AJ’s room, and crashed onto the fluffy mattress. It had felt to her that her emotional outpouring had been as exhausting as the physical work she had done all day, so if Applejack had come in Rainbow likely wouldn’t have noticed. Rainbow Dash noticed that she was sprawled nearly the same way she had been when she’d fallen asleep, so she guessed Applejack hadn’t. “Where would she be?” Rainbow asked herself. She pulled herself out of bed, her body aching from the strain she had put on it the day before. Manual labor wasn’t exactly Rainbow Dash’s thing. She tried to shake off the pain, as she knew they had another day ahead. “Maybe Applejack is already out getting ready,” Dash said to herself again, and headed into the library area. Twilight was nowhere to be seen, so Dash guessed she’d left as well, maybe with Applejack . Walking by a mirror on the wall, Dash noticed her mane in complete disarray. She slicked it down quickly and tried to make herself look a little nicer. Her personal appearance had never been at the forefront of Dash’s priorities, but she decided that it wouldn’t hurt to look a little nicer from time to time. She doubted Applejack cared though, and didn’t spend more than a moment on herself. She headed outside, stepping into the cool morning air as the sun began to reach over the horizon. She stretched her wings, popping the bones and straightening the feather. With a single flap she levitated herself into the air. She hoped Applejack was out at the orchard waiting on her. With the exception of the night she’d gotten Big Macintosh’s letter, they hadn’t had a night apart in quite a while. Now above the library, Dash could see her other friends headed for the orchard as well. Rarity could be seen with saddlebags bulging with designs for the décor. Sweetie Belle walked a little bit behind her, trying to get her Crusader cape tied on just right. Fluttershy was distributing bird seed for all the early morning birds on her way there. Big Macintosh and Applebloom weren’t far behind. Suddenly, a voice called up to her. “Hey Rainbow Dash!” It was Scootaloo who had called her. “Are you headed out now?” Dash could barely see the little Pegasus from the height she was at, so she swooped down and landed next to her. “Yeah, I guess I am. You haven’t see Applejack have you?” Dash asked. “Uh, nope not yet. But I can’t wait to see more of your awesome moves today! Maybe you can do a sonic rain-“ but Scootaloo was cut off as Dash soared back into the air and flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres. “Hey, wait up Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried out, and took off on her scooter after the cyan Pegasus. Dash arrived just after most of her friends had. Fluttershy had already headed into the rows of trees, trying her best to get the animals woken and moved before the hard work began. Twilight had come early to start organizing the second phase of the building process. Pinkie and Caramel still ha d a lot of plowing and planting to do, and Rarity had a lot of designs to go over to decide what would work most perfectly for the new farmhouse. Twilight called Dash over for a moment. “Ok Rainbow Dash, things are going to work pretty much like yesterday. I’ve put the fillies on seed duty, to start planting while Pinkie and Caramel finish up the plowing. If I can pull her away from her drawings for a moment, Rarity and I will will begin dividing up the wood we already have with our magic. Everything else should work just like yesterday.” Before she had finished, Twilight could already see something was wrong in Dash’s eyes. “What’s wrong?” Twilight tried to be quiet as she asked. “Did something happen?” “No..I’m not sure,” Dash told her, “I’m pretty sure AJ never came back last night. I haven’t seen her all morning.” Twilight broke a smile, and said, “Oh, don’t be silly. Applejack is here. She was already up and in the library when I woke up. We came here together, and talked a little.” Twilight saw Dash become nervous, and quickly added, “Oh, but we didn’t talk about that stuff.” Twilight didn’t add how hard it had been not to. Just looking at Applejack reminded her of everything Rainbow had told her, and she knew something deep inside her just wanted to burst through and spill everything. Pinkie Pie’s warning of FOREVERRRRRR rang in her head over and over, and she managed to keep herself contained. “Well, uh, where is she?” Dash asked, a slight wave of excitement hitting her. “Over there,” Twilight pointed her hoof to the small grove of apple trees. Applejack was sitting with her hooves folded under her body, with her head up but her eyes closed. She looked so peaceful under the bright morning sky. The dew dripping from the trees bathed her in an aura of cool morning light. Dash glided over to her slowly. “Hey AJ, everything ok?” “Okay? Why…yeah…Ah guess,” Applejack tried her best to say. Consarnit, Applejack thought to herself. Stupid element of honesty. “You guess?” Dash looked a tad puzzled, “That’s not exactly a no either AJ.” “It don’t matter what it is RD,” Applejack snapped at her “Ah’ll be ok no matter what.” Dash backed off. She wasn’t sure what was wrong, but she decided to let Applejack cool down and she’d get the story out of her later. Dash could tell Applejack had tried her best to lie, but Rainbow Dash also knew Applejack was terrible at it. “But why did she have to try to lie to me?” she asked herself quietly so no one else would here. The day passed just as the previous one had. Big Macintosh helped with all of the heavy lifting, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash brought the trees down. Applejack seemed to be using a great deal more power, which Dash could only assume was her relieving whatever kind of anger she was experiencing. Rainbow Dash continually found herself distracted by her thoughts on this, and was reprimanded several times by AJ and Big Mac alike. Twilight and Rarity had managed to separate the tree trunks into several equal planks of wood that would begin the frame of the farm house and barn. Pinkie Pie and Caramel had managed to finish plowing the rest of the fields. In turn, this had allowed the fillies to plant all their seeds, playing games along the way like who could plant them the fastest. With so much work done, all of the ponies were now able to focus on building the structures, ensuring that everything would be able to be finished much faster. All the ponies said their goodbyes, and headed off to get some well deserved nourishment and relaxation. Applejack tried to leave herself, but Rainbow noticed before she could slip away. “Applejack…what’s the matter?” Rainbow decided to ask her again, hoping for a better answer. “Ah just need some time to think,” Applejack told her. “Ah got a lot on ma mind, and nopony but me’s gonna be able to fix it.” “I can help!” Dash exclaimed, a hint of desperation creeping into her voice. “Naw sugarcube,” Applejack told her, “Just let me work it out. Ah’ll be in tonight, Ah promise.” With that Applejack left Rainbow Dash fluttering a few feet above ground; alone. Dash could feel a black void opening inside her heart, sucking the happiness from her soul. Something screeched inside her head, like a griffon’s nails across a chalkboard. Maybe she knows, the voice in Dash’s head returned, louder than ever. “That can’t be it,” Dash said to herself, “She’s way to calm.” She’s also not being very honest, it replied back, That’s not in her character. Dash tried to ignore it once again, hoping it would clear out by the time she got back to the library. However, the whole trip back the voice derided her, and tried to make her feel worthless. It said more horrible things and laughed at her sadness. Dash couldn’t stand to hear anymore or it. Arriving at the library, she took a sharp nosedive and crashed headfirst into the ground. The hit made her woozy, but it did its job, and the voice instantly stopped talking. She shook the dust from her coat, and quickly went inside. She was again very tired, but a part of her hated that she never seemed to want to go out anymore, even when she had the opportunity, instead opting to come back and hang out at Twilight’s library. She’d always been a bit of a party pony, but she had to admit, even with Pinkie’s great parties, Ponyville never threw ones like she’d been to when she was friends with Gilda. Twilight had already made her way home, and welcomed Dash inside. Twi closed the door behind Rainbow Dash, and walked with her to the table. “Anything you need to get off your mind today, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked her. “I…I think I’m ok,” Dash told her, but was reminded that things weren’t exactly ok. “Well, on second thought Twilight, I’m just not sure what’s up with Applejack. She’s been mad at me all day, and I can’t figure out why.” Twilight moved closer to Rainbow, and leaned onto the table to think for a moment. “Hmmm,” Twilight was in deep thought for a moment, “Maybe Applejack figured it out? And maybe her anger isn’t as bad as you thought? I mean she still sounds angry, but not like I would have imagined she would.” “If it was, I don’t think she’d lie,” Dash told Twilight. “I just have a feeling it’s something else.” Twilight continued to move a little closer to Rainbow Dash. Dash noticed, but didn’t say anything. “Well, let’s talk about it then,” Twilight said. Meanwhile, Applejack had been wandering the streets of Ponyville, her mind swirling with thoughts about the night before. She’d seen Dash and Twilight together, she was sure of that. However, she really hadn’t seen anything completely wrong. Dash had looked somewhat sad, and in keeping with how Dash had acted the morning before, it could have been likely Twilight was just trying to calm her down. Regardless, seeing anypony else, even one of her best friends, laying a hoof on Dash like that got Applejack’s blood boiling. Rainbow Dash had been her ray of hope against everything that had happened, and she wanted to believe she would always see the cyan Pegasus as that. Applejack just couldn’t seem to get her head clear though. She was sure Twilight would never try to make a move on Rainbow Dash. At least, she thought she was sure. Applejack had also heard the comments around Ponyville that Dash wasn’t the type to stay committed very long. When she’d heard it, Applejack brushed off the thoughts and tried her best to ignore them, although she did let it slip into the back of her mind. Applejack hadn’t even known Rainbow to be in any committed relationships at all, let alone any on the short term. She decided maybe she needed someone to talk to herself. Applejack did not dare go to Fluttershy. If Big Macintosh got wind of any trouble, she imagined anything that had been accomplished between the two over the past few days would quickly crumble. Pinkie Pie was never very good with advice in her opinion, so she decided that maybe Rarity could help. Applejack couldn’t help but find it funny, remembering times not so long ago when her and Rarity could hardly stand to be in the same room together. After a short while, applejack found herself on the doorstep of the Carousel Boutique. She knocked lightly and waited. In a few moments, the white Unicorn opened the door to see who was outside. She had mask of green mud laid across her face, and her usual pink bathrobe was pulled tight around her body. “Oh Applejack, this is an unexpected surprise,” Rairty said. “Heya Rarity, are uh, the girls asleep yet?” Applejack began to think maybe she didn’t need to do this after all. “Of course they are,” Rarity gave a stern look, “I run a tight ship around here.” “Heh, well, good ta know Applebloom isn’t getting’ in ta too much trouble. But, uh, Rarity, do you mind if we talk for a few?” “Why of course not darling, come in,” Rarity opened the door wide and let Applejack come in. Applejack made sure she wiped her hooves off before going in further. She could see Rarity had been working hard in her spare time, creating many new fashions. Many of them seemed to be inspired by the beauty of the country. “You like them?” Rarity had noticed her looking and asked, “While making up my designs for the farm, I just ran with some of the ideas. They’ll be a hit come Applebuck Season!” “Yeah, they’re really great,” Applejack let out a sigh, “But Ah’m not here ta talk fashion Rarity. Ah’ve, uh, got some problems.” “Rainbow Dash?” Rarity said quickly. “Is it really that obvious?” Applejack was quick to ask. The two walked over to a small table in the center of the dress shop. They each took a seat on one side. “Its always easy to spot when there’s trouble between lovers my dear,” Rarity said, “And I doubt I’m the only one that noticed the tension between you two today. We’ve seen you two kiss, and you barely even touched the air two feet between each other.” “Well”, and so Applejack told the story. It didn’t take long to tell, and when it was done, Rarity simply smiled, got up, and trotted off into the kitchen. She came back levitating two cups of tea with her. She sat one down in front of Applejack and took her seat again, sipping on the tea as she did. “Honestly,” Rarity said, “I think you are overreacting dear.” “Wha-, me? Why in tarnation are ya sayin’ that?” Applejack asked. “Well, to be quite honest, you are here, talking to me right now, aren’t you?” Applejack nodded. “Then tell me what’s to say Rainbow Dash didn’t have something she needed to talk about? I’ve had plenty of things I haven’t had the chance to say to somepony I was with at the time, and Fluttershy was always willing to listen. And that doesn’t mean she is lying to you either.” Applejack thought it over for a while. It made sense, although she hated the idea that Dash could be hiding something from her. “If it is something important Applejack, Rainbow Dash will tell you. Just give it some time, and stop worrying. If things still seem off, confront Rainbow about them. Either way, I’m still going to be here if you need to talk some more.” Applejack managed a smile and said, “Thanks Rarity.” “Now, lets talk about something else,” Rarity said, “You at least need to finish your tea. And besides, can you imagine Twilight Sparkle having a thing for anypony?” Despite the fact that her eyes were open, Rainbow Dash was not sure how long the kiss had lasted. It had come as such a shock to her, her whole body had tensed up, leaving her stiff and unable to pull away. The purple unicorn had forced her tongue into the edges of Rainbow’s mouth, trying her best to mimic the passionate kisses she’d seen Rainbow share with Applejack. At that moment, despite having nothing to do with what was happening, Rainbow could feel the hatred for herself burning brighter than ever. She wondered if it was because deep down, she didn’t entirely hate the situation that was taking place. Gathering her strength, Rainbow pulled away. She quickly wiped the wetness away from her mouth. Twilight sat before her, a look of sadness and confusion upon her face. “What the hay was that Twilight?” Dash snapped out. “I…I uh… nothing, it was nothing,” Twilight turned her head away, trying to hide a few tears that had formed in her eyes. “Nothing? You call that nothing?!” Dash continued to raise her voice. “What if Applejack had come back and seen that? Or anypony else for that matter?” “You…you didn’t feel anything…” Twilight seemed to trail off. “Feel…what? You know what my feeling are Twilight. I thought us talking was going to help me get through my problems, help me make a better relationship between me and Applejack. But big surprise with my bucking luck, it’s only gotten harder!” “I…but I…oooohhhh!” Twilight raced off, tears streaming down her face, up to her oom and slammed the door with a burst of purple magic. Dash was left sitting on the floor of library, unsure of everything now more than ever. Not only was she unsure of how to go about the discussion she had to have with Applejack, but she was worried by the feeling she had just felt. Somewhere deep inside, it was as if Twilight’s magic had reached in and touched something inside the Pegasus, and it had felt….good. Dash couldn’t believe herself. Hmmmm, interesting thoughts we’re having, eh Rainbow Dash, the voice inside her head suddenly broke in. Really testing this whole “Element of Loyalty” thing, aren’t we. Dash had no intention of listening, and tried her best to pretend she was hearing nothing. Several minutes with her alone in the library. Soon however, she heard light hoofsteps on the doorstep, and Applejack came in quietly through the door. Dash got up quickly, acting as if nothing had happened. “What’re you doing up?” Applejack asked her, “Ah thought you’d be worn out by now.” “Twilight has some great comics here,” Dash lied, “Some I’ve never read before. I was just putting them up when you came in. I couldn’t sleep is all.” The fake grin Dash managed seemed to work, and Applejack trotted over to her and tugged on her rainbow mane. “Come on sugarcube, lets curl up for the night and talk some before we fall asleep,” Applejack said sweetly,” And uh, Ah love you Dash.” “I love you too, AJ,” Dash said back, and simultaneously felt like somepony had bucked her in the gut. “Ya know, if you’ve ever got anything ya need to talk about, no matter what, I won’t be mad,” Applejack said, trying to hint around to see if Rarity might be right. “Of course I will,” Rainbow said, the knot in her stomach twisting ever worse. “I uh, might need too soon…but…not now.” Somewhere inside Applejack, a spark of happiness sprung to life. She was sure Rarity had been right, and that it was only a matter of time till she found out everything. Applejack just smiled. “Come on sugarcube, lets hit the hay.” For the first time in quite awhile, Dash had had dreams, and not a single one had anything to do with the guilt on her conscience. For Dash however, these new dreams were much worse. Every place she went in these dreams, she went with Twilight. Everything she did in these dreams, she did with Twilight. She dreamt about Twilight’s body, about her mane about her…kiss. Not long after falling asleep, Dash sprang awake, these new dreams fresh in her mind. She could still feel the knot in her stomach, reminding her of how horrible it was she was thinking of this now. Dash decided she needed some sort of closure on the subject. Twilight had left Dash’s mind in such a state when she ran off, Dash knew she had to talk with her about it. Dash climbed out of bed as quietly as possible, and rose into the air to try and make the least amount of noise possible. She nudged the door open, and closed it back just as gently. She headed up stairs, floating above each step like a ghost in the old mare’s tales Dash heard about when she was a filly. She landed softly outside Twilight’s door. She pushed the door open, and found Twi still awake, sitting on her bed with her face buried in a book. It was obvious she wasn’t reading it. Spike snored loudly in a basket on the other side of the room. “Twilight…” Dash said. A little over an hour after Dash had gotten up, Applejack stirred from her sleep. Groggily she adjusted her eyes to the dark, and realized the warm cyan body she had become so used to sleeping against was nowhere to be found. “Rainbow Dash?” Applejack called out into the darkness. No reply came back. Applejack climbed out of bed cautiously, and ignoring her hat on the bedside table, left the room to find Rainbow Dash.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 8“Twilight…” Rainbow Dash said, walking closer to the purple Unicorn. Twilight looked up from her book. The tears in her eyes were evident. She didn’t say anything to Rainbow Dash, and slowly looked away. It reminded Dash a bit of that first night when her and Applejack had kissed for the first time. As she came in, Dash came to the realization she really didn’t have anything planned to say to Twilight. “Twilight, I uh, just want to talk to you,” Dash tried not to sound anything but nice. “Maybe…maybe it’s best we don’t Rainbow Dash,” Twilight sniffed, and tried not to let more of the tears fall from her eyes. “But Twilight, if we don’t, I can already tell it’s gonna drive me crazy. And since I can’t even confess things to Applejack, I don’t want any more stress on my mind.” For a moment it surprised Twilight, hearing such strong words from the Pegasus. Back when Twi had first met Rainbow Dash, Twilight could tell she was strong-willed, but could also tell she did not have a way with words. “Look Rainbow Dash, I…I know it was wrong what I did…I understand if you want to end our friendship,” Twilight put her head down on the bed and turned away. “No, it isn’t that Twilight…I mean, yeah I’m not entirely happy about what happened but I can’t stop thinking about it. I thought about it in bed with AJ, I dreamt about it. There was just…something…” Twilight looked up, and Dash could see she was trying to force back something of a smile. “You…you did?” Twilight asked her, halfway still in tears, and halfway suddenly very happy. “That’s what we need to talk about…” Dash hesitated for a moment, seeing the happiness in Twilight’s eyes and knowing full well she was about to crush it. “I love Applejack, Twilight, I can’t be fooling around on her. I’ve heard the rumors around Ponyville about me before,” Dash looked very serious at this point. Twilight drooped at those words. She knew she should have expected it, but they still cut deep. She hated herself a little inside, being so jealous of one of her best friends, knowing what all this could do to not just her and rainbow Dash’s friendship, but her and Applejack’s as well. “What’s to talk about Rainbow Dash!?” Twilight snapped suddenly, “I messed up! But can you really imagine what it’s like seeing you two here, every day, so happy together. No matter what’s going on in your head Rainbow Dash, I bet it all gets better with Applejack! I miss the days before the fire, Rainbow Dash, I long for those. I could talk to you more often, I could watch you streak your Rainbow across the sky, and hope that one day, I could hold that beautiful cyan Pegasus close and tell her how I feel!” Twilight broke down into harder tears. She threw herself to the floor, and continued to talk through her sobbing. “I didn’t want things… t-to be like this Rainbow! D-do you t-t-t-think I like the idea o—of hurting Applejack”? Rainbow Dash didn’t know what to say. Twilight’s outburst had come on so suddenly, she hadn’t had time to take all those words in. “Twilight…you egghead,” Dash actually managed with a smile, “Why couldn’t you tell me this?” “Would it have mattered?” Twilight asked her. “Before the fire, t—the way you t-t-talked about Applejack, I-I knew what you w-w-were thinking about.” Dash thought on those words for a moment. She admitted, she’d wanted to be with Applejack a very long time. But just as other mare’s sometimes took their chances when certain colts asked them out, she couldn’t say for sure if she would have given Twilight the time or not. Dash admitted that she hated the situation, but it was getting harder and harder for her to find a way to resolve it. “How long…have you felt this way about me?” Dash asked her. “Since we first used the Elements of Harmony. When we were together, that first night after Nightmare Moon was defeated, all of us together, I just felt so much more for you. I wasn’t sure at first, so in the following days I tried to spend a lot of time with everyone. I had sleepovers with Rarity and AJ, had talks with Fluttershy, and went to every one of Pinkie Pie’s parties. The one thing I realized though was that I loved having such good friends, but none of them made me feel that way. I knew I wasn’t wrong after that.” Dash thought back to all the time she had pinned over Applejack, a longing that existed before Twilight had come to Ponyville. Still, it had been a couple of years now since that time, and Dash knew all too well how horrible such secret passion for another could be. “What is it you want me to do, Twilight?” Dash asked, full well knowing what her answer would likely be. Twilight didn’t respond. She stared deeply into the violet orbs that were Rainbow Dash’s eyes. All that she could think of were Dash’s words: “I can’t stop thinking about it.” Before anything else could be said, Twilight threw herself on top of Rainbow Dash, forcing her lips across Rainbow’s. Rainbow didn’t resist, and gave back just as passionately. Dash could feel that spark, growing brighter and brighter. For a moment she pushed Applejack from her mind and laid back, trying to enjoy of moment. Now awake, Applejack tried her best to slip silently out the door. She couldn’t imagine anypony would be happy of being woken up at this hour of the night. The door only made a slight creak, and quickly Applejack was in the darkened library. With the candles blown out, Applejack found it nearly impossible to find her way around. “On all the nights fer Luna to slack on tha light,” Applejack whispered to herself. As if on command, the clouds that had been covering the moon slowly floated out of its way, shooting beams of moonlight directly through the library windows. The room glowed in the blue moonlight, and gave Applejack time to adjust her vision. After a few moments she was sure Rainbow Dash wasn’t here. “Would she’ve gone outside?” Applejack asked herself. Applejack decided to continue looking around. There was no sign that Dash had stayed long. Applejack sighed. She walked to each one and glanced out the windows, but Ponyville was too dark to be able to tell if anypony was out there. She thought about going back to bed and waiting for her cyan Pegasus to come back herself. She couldn’t imagine she’d be gone long, and Applejack was sure Dash had a good reason for it. She wasn’t even sure where she would start looking. She thought maybe Dash had things to check on in her cloud house, especially since she didn’t often stay there anymore. Still, with no way to check things out, AJ decided it would be useless to go out and check. With that, Applejack decided to turn back and go back to bed. And then she heard a thump. It wasn’t very loud, but the brief, frantic rustling that came after made Applejack suddenly very suspicious. Surely Rainbow Dash wasn’t up talking to Twilight at this hour. And if she was, she knew Twilight would be very careful to not cause any disturbances for fear of incurring the anger of anypony that might be awakened at this hour. Spike was also asleep by now, though he’d generally need to be smashed against a brick wall, or something to that equivalent, to be awakened again. Regardless, after being so sure just hours before, she could feel her heart sinking in her chest, being eaten away at by the fear that maybe Rainbow Dash was trying to hide some very large secret from her. Applejack knew if she didn’t at least investigate, then she didn’t feel she could even begin to continue to trust Rainbow. Slowly and as quietly as possible, Applejack started up the stairs. Twenty minutes before Applejack laid the first hoof on the staircase, Dash was now sitting up, her face flushed and hot. Twilight sat behind her, and stared out the window into the moonlight. “I’m not sure how to feel now,” Dash said low, her mind racing. What a winner we have here, that voice in her mind spoke up, the “fastest flyer in Equestria” is also the fastest cheater as well. Dash ignored it. She hated it, but the past minutes, when she’d had her lips pressed against Twilight’s, they’d been nothing short of amazing. Was this some added bonus of unicorn magic, the power to make something like this so incredible? Had her first kiss with Applejack felt this incredible? Dash suddenly felt like she couldn’t remember. She could still see it in her mind, but all feeling had been replaced by the strange euphoric feeling that had come with touching Twilight’s lips. For a good ten minutes, Dash sat there, lost in thought. “Rainbow, I’m sorry”, Twilight had walked over to the Pegasus, “I mean, I’m not sorry for how I feel, but I’ve made you do horrible things to Applejack. You can…hate me if you want.” Without even thinking, Dash turned around and threw herself back onto Twilight, kissing her furiously. They landed with a thud against the floor. In a surprising turn, Twilight took control and rolled the two so that Dash was below her. Even with her eyes closed, Dash could visualize every inch of Twilight. She caressed Twilight with her hooves, feeling the softness of her mane as they slid down her back. In her mind, she a thought occurred to her that she both loved and despised: If Applejack never finds out, I’m fine with this. Too lost in their embrace, neither pony could hear the sound of the bedroom door creaking open, nor see the shape of the orange earth pony about to step inside. “Maybe Ah should go back,” Applejack said, moving up one step. She was up five of the fifteen steps that led up to Twilight’s bedroom, and with each step she asked herself the same question. But with so much doubt clouding her mind and swallowing her heart, she knew she had to find out. So with each successive step, she continued to ask herself over and over, until she stood on the landing at the top of the stairs. She could hear the rustling again, a little more clearly now. Was that moaning she could also hear? Applejack tried to put the idea out of her mind. Rarity had said herself she couldn’t imagine Twilight Sparkle as having interest in just about anypony. “But Rainbow Dash isn’t anypony,” AJ said, “She’s my pony.” She put a hoof to the door, hoping she wasn’t going to be walking in on something she’d regret seeing. As the door slid open, she could see Twilight’s tail and flank, but the candle burning in the corner made it harder to see just what she was doing. The door began to creak as Applejack pushed it slightly more. She poked her head inside, and simultaneously felt her heart explode. She couldn’t stand to see anymore of what was happening. Applejack loudly bucked the door completely open with one hoof, slamming it against the wall. Twilight leapt off of Rainbow Dash and fell hard on her flank. Dash looked up quickly, a look of regret quickly filling her eyes. Despite the noise, Spike continued to sleep. “Applejack, wait!” Dash tried to cry out as the earth pony turned and began to storm down the stairs. Dash glanced at Twilight, seeing the unicorn with tears in her eyes and the similar look for regret on her face. Dash stood up and glanced away quickly, running down the stairs to catch Applejack.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 9As Rainbow Dash chased Applejack out into the darkness, the voice in her head began to run rampant, insulting her, reminding her of how horrible she was, and telling her that the truth had to come out. It told her how it was sure it would crush Applejack’s already broken heart, and laughed at the pain it was sure to cause both ponies. Despite this, Dash continued on, reserving herself to the idea that if she was crazy, it wouldn’t bother her in the least as long as she could try to sort things out with Applejack. She had no idea what she would say to her, but Dash hoped that AJ still believed that there was love for her in Dash’s heart. She also hated to admit, but the voice pounding at the walls of her mind was right, and it was time everything came out. Dash took to the air, knowing that Applejack had the ability to outrun her on foot. The darkness of late-night Ponyville also failed to help matters. No sooner had Dash gotten a good vantage point than she had lost sight of the orange pony. She tried to follow each path with her eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, but nopony seemed present on any one of them. Dash next swooped low, scanning the trees and bushes that Applejack could have chosen to hide in. After several tries, she could still find no sign of the mare she was still so sure she loved. She decided there was nothing she could do in the darkness under Luna’s moon. Dash fluttered back to the library, head hung low as she walked through the door. Twilight stared down at her from the door, tears still streaming down her face. Dash didn’t even glance once at her. The cyan Pegasus kept her slow stride all the way to the bed. The voice in her head had subsided, but left her with one of the worst headaches of her life. She climbed into the lonely bed, and laid on her side for a while, staring blankly at the wall. Dash closed her eyes and turned over for a moment, briefly hoping that maybe it had all been a dream, that maybe she hadn’t messed everything so badly and been so stupid as to indulge her fantasies like a young school filly. She had hoped that when she opened them, Applejack would be there, sleeping soundly, unaware that the Pegasus she loved was ready to break down over a horrible nightmare. Sadly, Dash found the spot empty, just as it had been minutes before. The brown hat Applejack always wore still sat by itself on the bedroom table. Dash reached for and pulled it close to her chest, and sobbed long into the night. Morning came to Ponyville as usual, and most everypony went about their business as usual. Nopony seemed to pay any attention to Rainbow Dash, who’d been up since Celestia’s sun first rose over the horizon. She darted back and forth across the clouds, searching for any sign of Applejack. She searched high and low, but continued to come up with nothing. Soon, she realized, her friends would be gathering for another day of work at Sweet Apple Acres, and she decided that would be the most likely place to check. When she arrived, Pinkie Pie and Caramel were carrying water pails in their mouths and watering their seeded areas. Rarity was stretched out her couch, which was sat upon a large blanket scattered with designs. Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were talking near the forest, evidently waiting on the others. Dash saw no sign of Twilight Sparkle, although she wasn’t surprised. Dash decided to ask Pinkie first. “Uh, hey Pinkie Pie,” Dash glided down and landed near her, trying not to act differently from her usual demeanor, “Have uh, you seen Applejack anywhere around today?” “Mmmph ammmumph, ahumhumm, mmmmumphph,” Pinkie tried to ramble out, the watering can still clutched in her mouth. “So…no?” Dash said, confused. Pinkie Pie nodded, then dropped the can from her mouth and said, “Gosh Rainbow Dash, something didn’t happen did it? Cause that’d be super awful, then it’d be really hard to invite everypony to my parties because everypony doesn’t like each other anymore.” “N-no, Pinkie, its nothing,” Dash told her and forced the hardest smile of her life. By that point, rarity was trotting over to see what the topic of conversation was. “Good morning, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said properly, “I’ve got several designs ready for the approval of you and…where is Applejack?” “Well, that’s what I was asking Pinkie Pie about. I haven’t seen her this morning.” “You haven’t? But I saw her last night. She seemed fine.” Rarity waited a moment, then suddenly, “What did you do to her, Rainbow Dash!?” “Whoa,” Dash said surprised, “N-nothing. I just haven’t seen her this morning.” “Well, I’d hope you didn’t! After everything that’s happened to that pony, I’d hope you had enough sense to not break her heart too,” and with that Rarity went back to her couch, plopping down with an angry scowl. Dash figured Rarity must have talked with Applejack about something during the time that she had been gone the day before, given how she’d just acted. It made Dash wonder what had been said, considering it likely meant AJ had been thinking about Dash hurting her before the events that had transpired. No sooner had Rarity left than Big Macintosh and Fluttershy wandered over to see what the fuss was about. “Oh no,” dash said to herself, fearing the wrath of Big Macintosh. “Mornin’ Rainbow Dash,” Big Mac said politely, “Ready to start? Uh, where’s mah sister at this mornin’?” “I’m uh, not sure,” Dash admitted honestly, “She wasn’t home when I woke up. You, uh, haven’t seen her, have you?” “Nope,” he said, and looked down at Fluttershy. “I haven’t seen her either Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said sweetly, “Oh I hope nothing bad has happened to her.” “Naw, Applejack’s too strong for that,” another smile crossed her lips that made them feel like they were going to shatter. “Well, if Applejack isn’t here, maybe we should call it a day off, and pick things up tomorrow,” Caramel spoke up, his water pail at his hooves. “I wouldn’t mind a rest day after these past couple.” He glanced nervously at Pinkie Pie, who grinned ear to ear back at him. “That’s just fine,” Dash said quickly, “Everypony’s been working so hard to help us. You guys are at least 20…no 40% cooler than I thought you were before!” with every sentence she said, trying to keep her composure, something inside Dash slowly chipped away. With that, Dash took to the air again and left faster than any of the other ponies. Big Macintosh and Fluttershy began to walk back towards her house. “Do you think something seemed strange with Rainbow Dash today?” Fluttershy asked the big red pony. “She seemed like somethin’ was botherin’ her. And mah sister bein’ gone doesn’t help anythin’ either. Ah’ll find out,” he told her. None of the other ponies knew that Applejack was much closer than they thought she might be. Hiding in the apple cellar that had she had built not so long ago, the one which Twilight Sparkle had fallen into the day she’d learned about Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense. As an in-ground establishment, the cellar had survived and went relatively unnoticed by everypony else. Applejack had sealed herself away inside, allowing herself to cry, free from the watching eyes of any other ponies. She didn’t want to admit to anypony what Rainbow Dash did. Part of her wished she’d just gone back to bed. Another part wished she’d never even gotten out of bed at all. Still, she knew the hurt wouldn’t have been any different had she learned about it much later. Applejack wondered after all the friendship lessons she’d help write, after everything they had been through, how Twilight or Rainbow Dash could do something like that, full well knowing the hurt it would cause. She’d overheard the brief discussion between Fluttershy and Big Macintosh as they headed back. At the moment, she’d really wanted to spill everything out to her big brother, but she didn’t want to get Fluttershy involved in anyone’s problems. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She picked an apple up in her mouth, and climbed the stairs. She pushed open the cellar door and took aim at the red pony walking away from her. She lobbed the apple and watched as it soared toward Big Macintosh, and crashed into his flank. He jumped with surprise, causing Fluttershy to drop out of the air in fear. Big Mac quickly looked back, causing Applejack to slam the door closed, hoping Big Mac would see and get the hint. Applejack waited. Outside, Big Macintosh helped pull Fluttershy off the ground. “Ah’m sorry,” he said, “But uh, go on home. Ah’ll be back soon. Ah gotta check something is all,” he told her. “Um, ok. Take your time,” she blushed a bit, and headed back alone. When he was sure she was gone, Big Macintosh headed back to where the cellar door was. He was surprised he hadn’t taken a look to see if it had survived, but the same thought also made him feel very stupid, as there was obviously no large open hole anywhere around after the remains from the fire had been cleared away. Big Mac knocked, and waited for a few moments. Soon, an orange hoof pushed the door open, and let him come inside. He trotted down the stairs and waited for Applejack to close the door. When she came down behind him, Big Macintosh couldn’t believe how terrible she looked. “What happened?” he asked her, “Ya look awful hun.” “Ah’m…ah’m not sure I want ta talk about it yet,” she choked out. “Well, regardless of what’s goin’ on, ya know Ah’m always here for ya,” he came close to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. Applejack would have smiled if she could have, but Big Mac did manage to make her feel a little better. Big Mac looked away, and simply said, “Rainbow Dash?” “Applejack looked up at him, and replied, “Yeah.” The two sat in silence for a while, Applejack occasionally turning away to keep him from seeing her cry more. As if she were a little filly again, Applejack wanted her brother to only see her as a strong pony, who didn’t let a little thing like…was love a little thing? Nopony seemed to think it was, and it sure didn’t feel little. She wasn’t sure what Big Macintosh thought of love. “If things are a’changin’ AJ, than ya’ll know we might have to leave after all,” Big Mac spoke after a bit. “Will things be changin’?” “Well…” Applejack began, and started to tell everything to her brother. Dash was sure Applejack was far out of Ponyville by the time the afternoon sun had begun to set. She’d looked everywhere in her attempt to find Applejack, but had come up with nothing. Nopony had seen her since they’d left the farm the day before. Now, sitting alone on the bed in her cloud house, she wondered the things she would say to Applejack if she did happen to come across her. “Sorry AJ for everything, and oh, by the way, I may have had something to do with the orchard burning down in the first place.” Dash sighed. In the words of Applejack herself when faced with what seemed like an unsolvable problem, she was completely bucked. Worse, she was sure things could never be the same with Twilight again. Even worse than that, Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure she regretted what had happened with Twilight. Regardless, she knew Applejack was her top priority. She had to make things right, once and for all. Resting her head on her cloud pillow, she managed to pass into a deep sleep. No nightmares came to her, no horrible visions. Later, Dash would guess it was because the worst of things was actually happening in her waking world, so her dreams might actually be her only means of escape. Applejack opted to stay where she was for a while, despite Big Macintosh offering to give up his bed at Fluttershy’s so she could have a good night’s sleep. He’d said something about being ok to stay the night in Fluttershy’s room, but Applejack had mostly ignored it, and so the large red pony had left her alone once again in the cellar. Seeing the moonlight seeping through the cracks, Applejack decided to head outside for a bit. It was unlikely anypony would find her at this point. She trolled out into the moonlight, and headed for one of the remaining apple trees. She kenw which one she was going to. She called the tree Zev. It wasn’t a name she had decided upon, it’s name actually had come from Applebloom. After reading Applebloom a bedtime story called Requiem for a Pony, Applebloom had decided to carve the main character’s name, Zev, into the tree, and so the name had just stuck. Applejack crashed under the tree, and let herself bathe in the moonlight. The night air felt good as the wind blew gently through her mane. IT made her feel calm, and allowed her to think more easily. She’d given up crying, finding out that a pony can only cry so many tears in a day. She looked up at the stars, wondering where she should go from here. It hurt to admit it, but she couldn’t stop loving rainbow Dash, no matter how hurt she was. But right now, she had no idea what she could say if the cyan Pegasus was to show up in front of her. She began to wonder just what Rainbow might be doing at the moment. The images of her and Twilight flashed back into her mind. Applejack realized that she couldn’t hate Twilight either, as much as she tried. Sometimes she hated just how much she was aware of her honesty. With a sigh, Applejack laid down, hoping to get some rest under the full moon. It would be a short sleep, however. Dash awoke a few hours later. By this point, Luna’s moon was high in the night sky, casting Ponyville in its soft glow. Despite the usual darkness, Dash decided to give one more sweep of Ponyville. She decided maybe luck might be on her side this time, and grabbed Applejack’s hat, that she was surprised to see had stayed afloat on her clouds. She threw the hat onto her head and swooped down towards the town below. Dash flew through the streets, flying over the few ponies who were still attending to certain duties before retiring to their homes for the night. She stopped by Sugarcube Corner as they were closing, with Pinkie having as little information as she had had before. She flew over to the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity was attending to her last two customers of the night. The two were a stallion couple who liked their privacy, and didn’t like to give out their real names. They’d told Dash to call them Squid and Drowning, and she made small talk with the two until Rarity returned with their finished outfits. She still seemed to have some strange anger towards Rainbow Dash, but she tried to hide it as she finished attending to her customers. “There you are gentlecolts,” Rarity said, handing them each custom suits, “It certainly was a challenge. I don’t make many clothes for stallions.” Squid thanks her first, and turned towards the door, revealing his knife-shaped cutie mark. Drowning followed suit, his spider cutie mark swaying with his flank as he followed Squid out. After a moment the two were alone. “Rarity, have you heard anything since earlier?” Dash asked her. “No, Rainbow Dash, I have not. But I have a good idea of why she might be mad at you. What were you hiding Rainbow Dash?” “I was…uh, well Twilight came to me and….I’m not sure if I want to talk about it right now,” Dash decided to tell her. “I think I’ve gotten quite enough,” Rarity said, and motioned for her to leave the shop. Dash didn’t put up an argument, and left the shop quickly. Now she was outside in the cool breeze of the night, once again without any leads to where she might find her lover. She hoped Applejack still considered herself as such. In the glow of the moonlight, Dash could see the tops of the trees remaining in Sweet Apple Acres. She decided to take one more look around the property, in hopes that she might even find as sign that she had been there. Soon Dash was hovering high above the mostly barren area that had been the orchard. In the back, the small grove of trees with their remaining apples sparkled brightly under the moon. It had been awhile since Dash had relaxed in one of the trees from the orchard, so she decided to fly over to where they were and think for a moment. And then, while getting closer to the grove, she noticed something that seemed out of place. A small orange blob lay under the tree, not moving. Dash was sure she knew what it was. Quickly, she flapped her wings hard and flew down to the ground. She skidded to a hard stop in the dirt. There, before her eyes, was the sleeping form of Applejack. Dash could tell from the dark circles under her eyelids, that she’d likely not slept much until recently. “A-A-Applejack,” Rainbow Dash tried to say, but felt the word ticking in her throat. The sound was enough to make Applejack stir from her sleep. Eyes focusing, Applejack looked up to see the cyan form of Rainbow Dash, her mane beautifully illuminated in the moonlight. “Wha-What the hay are you doin’ here Rainbow Dash?” Applejack stood up and said angrily. “I came to talk to you,” Dash said, “I have a lot that I need to say, and I’m not the best at saying it.” For a moment, Applejack just stared with an angry look at Dash, then said “Talk.” “I messed up AJ, really bad,” she said, trying to gather everything she could, “But it’s not the first time. I feel so horrible for this, but I’ve been hiding some things. Important things.” Applejack raised one of her eyebrows, “What kind of things, Rainbow Dash? Have there been other ponies too? Have Ah just been some pony you liked a little more, one that was just too good ta let go?” “No AJ, there were no others. What you saw…well, it was what you saw, but it had just happened. When you came in last night, from being gone, Twilight had kissed me. Just out of nowhere, she did, and I ekpt thinking about it. I had to talk to her, and one thing led to another and…” Applejack cut her off, “An that was good enough to go and do that to me?!” “No! Applejack, you have no idea how guilty I feel about this, and everything!” Dash knew it was now or never. She really had nothing planned, and she knew blurting it out at random wouldn’t go over well either, ,so she waited for Applejack to respond. “Just what other thin’s are ya trying to apologize for, Rainbow Dash?” It was now or never. The voice in Dash’s head came back for its final performance. It laughed maniacally, telling her that the end of everything was close at hand. Dash no longer had any reason to care for the things the voice said. “I burned down Sweet Apple Acres.” The words stunned Applejack. She stood silent for a moment, letting the words soak into her mind. “C-come again?” Applejack said, stunned. “It was my fault Sweet Apple Acres burned down.” Without letting Applejack speak another word, Dash told her the story. She spoke of Derpy Hooves and the weather team pony who had tried to put her on cloud duty. She told of the jealously she’d had when Applejack had been speaking to the stallion. Everything that Dash had held in for so long came pouring out. The whole time, tears flowed from Dash’s eyes. Soon she finished the story and began to sob more apologies. The voice that had plagued Rainbow Dash’s mind for so long vanished, the product of her guilty conscience finally vanquished. Applejack continued to stand in silence. Dash approached her, trying to get in close to the orange earth pony. Without warning, Applejack raised a hoof and slammed Dash across the face. Before Dash could react, Applejack once again took off into the night. Too stunned to give chase, Dash laid in the dirt, rubbing her cheek as the tears continued to stream down her face and crash into the earth below her.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 10Rainbow Dash was truly alone. Rubbing her face that was slowly returning to its normal color, she sat under the tree Applejack had just been under. She was sure now that nothing would change how Applejack was feeling. She wondered if maybe it hadn’t been the right time, and giving in to the voice that had plagued her mind had really been the best option. The voice was no longer talking to her either, which only served to make her loneliness worse. Normally a thought such as that would have worried anypony, but Dash was sure she had nowhere else she could go. At the moment, Dash was sure she didn’t want to talk to Twilight Sparkle. She didn’t blame Twilight for everything, how could she? Regardless, she knew now was not the time to go back, especially if something did change inside her distraught lover and she decided to come back to find Dash. Rarity was sure to hate her now, if she didn’t already. Big Macintosh was staying with Fluttershy, and Dash didn’t want to even chance going around him. She’d never seen Big Mac when he was mad, but she could only guess it wouldn’t be good. Dash considered finding Pinkie Pie, but brinigng her problems to Pinkie would likely only serve to depress the pink earth pony. Looking at the moon, high in the sky, Dash thought about how many times in the past few weeks she’d seen Luna’s moon like this. She thought about one of the last dreams she’d had, when she’d flown away from her cloud home and screamed into the night. She kept thinking about if she’d just kept flying. If she’d let herself decide she was crazy, that the voices in her mind and the pictures in her dreams were not normal, and just flown away before she hurt Applejack anymore. Sadly, her sanity had caused more harm than she could have imagined. Dash didn’t want to cry anymore. She’d always been a strong pony, and was sure she’d shed more tears since the fire than she’d been able to cry in her entire life. She stood up strongly, and vowed that she’d give it one more shot to fix things with Applejack when the sun rose in the morning. Dash flapped her wings open, and soared into the night towards her home. Dash wouldn’t find out until morning, but as the night went on, a certain four ponies in Ponyville would receive letters from one of their best friends. Each letter varied in content, and all were short on details for why they were sent. Even so, by the time they were all read, it was too late to do anything. All most of them could do was ask one question: Why? Morning came to Ponyville as it had every day before it. Despite her ability to stay strong in the face of losing everything, Rainbow Dash hadn’t slept all night. Her worries had begun to catch up to her. As soon as she saw that the sun had come up, she headed out in to Ponyville. With no idea where Applejack could have gone, Dash decided she’d have to start with the place she most dreaded: Fluttershy’s. It was an odd thing to be so scared of going to see Fluttershy, the pony least likely to hurt anything. Dash was certain though that Big Macintosh may not be so forgiving. Soaring over the town, heading for the cottage that Fluttershy shared with as many animals as she could manage, Dash hoped she could find some trace of where Applejack had gone. It didn’t take long before she was standing at the end of the path leading up to the door. She fluttered up to the porch, and stood for a few moments, deciding if it was in her best interest to even try. She decided that she had to find out something, and rapt on the door with one hoof loudly. Fluttershy answered, but seeing who was standing on her doorstep, she quickly moved away and Big Macintosh stepped out. “Mornin’ Miss Rainbow Dash,” Big Macintosh said in a rather friendly tone. “I figure you already know, but I’m looking for Applejack,” Dash didn’t waste any time in asking. “Well now,” he started, his expression becoming a bit more grim, “Ah can’t say Ah know where she’s gone ta. But Ah know she ain’t in Ponyville anymore.” Big Mac turned and walked inside for a moment, then came back with a letter clutched in his teeth. He lowered his head so the letter was eye level with Dash. Slowly, she read the black inked words carefully to herself. The letter read: To All My Friends in Ponyville, Although some of us may not be on the best terms right now, I just wanted everypony to know how much I’ve enjoyed being your friend. Its with a pretty heavy heart I’m announcing my leaving of Ponyville. Too much has happened, and theres too much on my mind right now to even continue a normal life here, so for now I’m going to go. I may come back soon, but I wouldn’t worry about me if I don’t. I’m not going to say where I’m going, because even I’m not sure, but its for my own sanity. I’ll miss everypony. -Applejack Dash was a tad surprised to see it hadn’t been written the way Applejack usually talked, but she assumed Spike or whoever helped her write the letter didn’t take the time to copy her inflection. “But you know where she’s going, don’t you Big Macintosh?” Dash asked sadly. “If Ah do, it ain’t mah place to tell you,” he told her sternly. “I can tell you know everything,” Dash put her ears down and looked sadly at Fluttershy’s porch, “I know you probably would like to beat me into a blue puddle on the ground.” “Despite my feelin’s on what has happened with mah sister, I ain’t no mare beater. Nopony deserves somethin’ like that. But maybe all this’ll make ya think more about your actions, Miss Dash.” With that, Big Macintosh retired into the house, and closed the door, leaving Dash to feel more alone than ever. Asleep that night in her cloud bed, despite the voice having purged itself from her head, Rainbow Dash had one final dream regarding the fire. She could see everything that had happened on that day that seemed so long ago, when Applejack had nearly lost everything. Only this time, something seemed different. Applejack came trotting out, soaking wet from Dash’s rain clouds, looking absolutely miserable. Behind her, the fire still raged. The Pegasus ponies hadn’t arrived to put the blaze out yet. Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. “Why couldn’t ya tell me, sugarcube?” she said sadly. “AJ, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for…” she was cut off quickly. “ Why did ya have ta wait till everythin’ was so far gone?” Dash didn’t have an answer. The part of herself that she had considered crazy had all along been right in condemning her for her actions, truly striving to make her admit her guilt and try to make things right. “I told you, I’m sorry,” Dash told her, staring into the green eyes of the earth pony as the fire crept closer and closer. “Maybe, in there, might have hurt less,” Applejack turned her head toward the ground. Without any warning, Rainbow Dash watched in horror as Applejack quickly galloped away back towards the blaze. Despite Dash’s protests, she would not come back. Headlong she ran into the flames, which charred her coat instantly. Soon she was gone completely, engulfed in the orange inferno. The brown hat she always wore burst back out of the flames, burning quickly as it soared over Dash’s head and turned to ash. Dash awoke, feeling guiltier than ever. She couldn’t imagine that she might have hurt Applejack so bad she might want to die instead. Her letter hadn’t implied such a thing, but Dash’s mind was running with the notion regardless. Dash sat up on her cloud bed, and looked across the room to the table she had made to sit in the room. Applejack’s brown hat still sat on the dresser. Dash looked away from it and slumped back onto the clouds, trying to clear her ehad for even a moment, and get some more sleep. Soon she was out again. She wouldn’t realize it until later, but had she stayed awake even a few minutes longer, she might not have lost the last piece of everything she had lost. The enchantments that had held Applejack’s hat for so long in the clouds finally gave out, and slowly the hat sank through the clouds. Once through the bottom, the hat soared away, caught by the wind that blew through the cold Equestrian night. Much like the seasons, many things remained the same in Ponyville, and yet many things began to change as well. As he’d told Applejack on the last day she’d remained in Ponyville, Big Macintosh and Applebloom eventually packed up their things and left for a plot of land in Appleoosa, after making a stop of course to drop Granny Smith off with the Orange family in Manehatten. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged tearful goodbyes with their friend, vowing to visit often so they could continue to crusade for their cutie marks. A tearful Fluttershy was also left behind as they departed, wishing they’d turn back and come back to her house, hoping that she wouldn’t be left behind. With so many animals to care for, Fluttershy couldn’t move herself, and was too left behind in Ponyville. Everyday for weeks, Rainbow Dash made trips further and further, looking for any trace of where Applejack had gone. On days she was feeling particularly in good spirits, she would perform her trademark sonic rainboom, hoping that Applejack would see it and investiagate to see what was going on. Sadly, nothing ever came of her trips, and she would usually return to Ponyville feeling empty and alone. Eventually she began to visit Twilight again, and with time the two had become something of a couple. However, things never felt quite right to Dash, and she continued to search when she could. Whatever spark she had felt when kissing Twilight on those nights before had vanished. Dash hated to admit that that spark may well have been from the excitement that she could have been caught kissing another mare while still being in her relationship. It wasn’t that Dash didn’t like Twilight either, she was still one of Rainbow Dash’s best friends, but Dash could never truly bring herself to say she loved the purple unicorn. Within a few months, coupled with intense arguing that arose between the two, Rainbow Dash ended the relationship, and decided to sever her own ties with Ponyville. It ended nearly a year to the day Applejack had left town. She flew to her cloud house and gathered what belongings she had. Dash placed them on a small cloud she could easily pull behind her, and flew away from Ponyville. She’d not see the town again for the next two years. Rainbow Dash could hear the roar of the crowd from outside the waiting area, as she prepared herself for what she considered to be the biggest moment of her life. The problem was, no matter how ready she was, she just couldn’t seem to stay focused. When the letter came the day before, things that she had finally been able to put out of her mind after three years came flooding back, and now here she was, ready to perform in front of the Wonderbolts for a chance to join them, and all she could think about was Ponyville. Just outside of where she was, Dash could see Soarin’ and Spitfire standing ready to judge the contestants. She kept thinking back to the night before. She’d just returned to her new cloud home that floated alongside the city of Cloudsdale, when a spark of green flame lit up her home, and the message had appeared. Instantly Dash knew where it had come from, so she carefully pulled the red ribbon off and let the paper unroll itself on her table. She began to read it with great interest, noting that it was surprising to see that it had been written exactly the way a certain pony spoke. Dear Ms. Dash, Despite the differences that we’ve all had, Ah’m askin’ if you would be so kind as ta join us in Ponyville. I assume ya still live there, but if not, don’t be makin’ the journey on my account. Tragically, our beloved Granny Smith passed away recently in Manehatten, and we’re holdin’ services in Ponyville tomorrow afternoon, with a get together at Sugarcube Corner afterwards. Despite what she seemed, she thought a lot of ya, and knew how happy ya’ll made Applejack. So please, if ya would join us in this tiem of mournin’. -Big Macintosh Dash couldn’t believe it. For her, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Dash sat down on the clouds and thought hard on what to do. Memories had begun to flow back. She remembered the good times with her friends in Ponyville, the adventures they’d had. She remembered how they’d hung out all around town, and laughed and just had fun. And then Dash remembered Applejack. Although things had gone bad three years ago, it wasn’t until recently Rainbow Dash had even been able to stop thinking of her. The prospect of maybe seeing her again lodged itself in Rainbow’s mind, bringing with it waves of confusion. Now in the present, lost in thought, Dash missed the first time her name was announced to perform. She might have missed her turn completely, had one of the pegasi from the stadium staff soon come to find her, and prodded her to go out. Dash stepped out into the light of the stadium, thousands of ponies cheering and waving around her. She could distinctly hear several cheering her name. Despite everything, her mind wasn’t here. It had already made its way back to Ponyville, long before her physical form would. With a sigh, Rainbow Dash decided to make the hardest decision of her life. With a flap of her wings, Dash flew up to cloud where the Wonderbolts were sitting. “What’s up Rainbow Dash?” Spitfire asked her. “I’m sorry,” Dash said with a great deal of reluctance, “But as happy as I am for the chance, I’ll have to try again some other time.” Obviously confused, Spitfire tried to ask Rainbow Dash just what exactly what was going on, but was left with a wisp of white cloud as Rainbow Dash rocketed from her spot and shot away towards Ponyville. Soaring over her old home town, Rainbow Dash took in the sights of the changes that had come there since she’d gone two years ago. Although the tracks wound through the town, a new train station had been built on the outskirts, allowing easier travel for those looking to go to Appleoosa or any of the other neighboring cities of Equestria. The one thing that surprised Dash was the site of Sweet Apple acres. Despite the new buildings never being built, a completely new crop of apple trees had sprung up, nearly returning the orchard to its former glory. Dash could only assume that Pinkie Pie and caramel’s work had been the one successful part of the failed plan she’d had back then. When Dash arrived at the building where the funeral was being held, she decided to wait the service out, for fear of causing any sort of incident. She watched through the windows as one pony after another said words in honor of Granny Smith’s memory. Soon, Big Macintosh spoke, and once his words were said, Applejack stood to speak. Next to her, all of their old friends, including Twilight Sparkle sat, solemn expressions across their faces. Fluttershy was visibly more upset than the others, but that didn’t surprise Dash. Before Applejack went up, Twilight levitated a small bag from her back. Dash couldn’t quite make out what it was, but waited to hear what Applejack had to say. “Granny Smith was one of the most wonderful ponies in all of mah life,” Applejack started. Dash sat and watched the mare she’d once loved speak on and on about her grandmother, hanging on to every word she spoke. Dash could feel the sadness welling up inside her, though she couldn’t be sure if it was seeing the orange earth pony again, or the truly sad fact that Granny Smith had passed on. When Applejack was finished, she went over to the coffin where Granny Smith lay, and planted a final kiss on her forehead. Dash couldn’t hear her, but gently, Applejack whispered, “Ah hope ya was proud of me. Ah wish ya could’a met my little Apple…” Applejack couldn’t finish as she began to break down into tears. Big Macintosh and Applebloom came to her sides, and helped her away. Slowly she walked away and took her seat once again by Twilight Sparkle until the rest of the service had concluded. There she was, amidst all their friends and family. Applejack stood, staring silently out the window of Sugarcube Corner. Off in the distance, the apple trees that Dash had passed on her way into town could be seen reaching into the afternoon sky. All Dash could think of was how good she still looked, the briefest signs of age only adding to her beauty. It was only as Dash got closer that she noticed more had happened to Applejack than aging. Rainbow Dash could finally get a clear view of the bag that twilight had taken during the funeral, and it was something Dash hadn’t expected. Nestled in a special carrier on Applejack’s back was a very small cyan earth filly who couldn’t have even been more than a few months old. She slept soundly on her mother’s back, unaware of the grief-stricken ponies around her. The sight of this made Dash even more hesitant to approach her. Thoughts about if Applejack was with anypony else began running through Dash’s mind, giving her the idea that maybe she should just leave before anyone recognized her. She didn’t want to scare Applejack off or cause a fight, especially in the midst of so much grief. Suddenly, a voice from behind surprised Rainbow Dash surprised her. “Hey Rainbow Dash,” Twilight Sparkle approached her cautiously, with Rarity not far behind. “Uh, hey Twilight. I didn’t expect to see you. Or expect you to be talking to me,” Dash said honestly. “I know things weren’t exactly great the last time we saw each other, but I want to start again. I miss my friends more than anything in the world Rainbow Dash. When we all began to split up, I hated myself. I went back to Canterlot with Spike, and confessed everything to the Princess. I was sure she was going to banish me from her court, but all she did was smile and tell me that ‘If I was truly sorry, then all friendships could be mended in time.’ So I came back to Ponyville, and started trying to fix everything. I wasn’t sure you’d be here, but I’ve been thinking of a thousand different things to say to you.” Dash smiled. She hadn’t expected this, but she assumed that it was a similar reason that she had had the opportunity to be so close to Applejack during the funeral. Before Dash could say anything, Rarity came next to Twilight to join the conversation. “Rainbow Dash, you look like you’ve been doing well,” Rarity said formally. “Not bad,” Dash grinned much like she used to, “Been busy as ever with my Wonderbolts training.” “Same old Rainbow Dash,” Rarity beamed, “But Rainbow, I must speak my own apologies. I too was not the best friend I could be before you left Ponyville.” “We never talked between…well you know, and the time Twilight and I broke up.” “Yes, I remembered darling. I had my reasons. To be honest, I was very upset with what you did to Applejack. That much I’m sure you could tell,” Dash nodded as she continued, “ But there was more to it than that. I admit, I was a little jealous.” Dash stood confused for a moment until Rarity get close to Twilight, and nuzzled Twilight’s neck. Twi accepted and closed her eyes as she lifted her head to let Rarity in closer. Dash smirked a bit, a bit surprised by the couple. “Twilight of course still has a lot of learning to do before she is as acceptably proper as myself,” Rarity pulled away and said. Twilight squinted back at the white unicorn, prompting Rarity to smile embarrassedly. Dash turned away to stare back at Applejack, who still remained silent by the window. “She’s not with anyone you know,” Rarity spoke up, instantly aware of what Dash was thinking. “We were all a little surprised to see Applejack back like that,” Twilight admitted, “But wait till you see her! She’s the most adorable little filly.” Twilight realized how awkward things would likely still be between the two, and slunk back after catching her mistake. “Its fine Twi,” Dash told her, “I just want to go talk to her so badly.” “Then go do it!” Rarity gave her a little push, “It’s not hard to tell there’s still something there, Rainbow Dash. You just have to make the first move.” Dash felt a little better after hearing her words, and with a little more confidence, Dash left the two unicorns behind, and headed towards Applejack. The walk to the spot where Applejack stood seemed like an eternity to Rainbow Dash. Everything around her seemed to be moving so slowly. She could see some ponies laughing, others crying. Pinkie Pie and Caramel were chatting with Fluttershy in one corner of the room. Dash hadn’t gotten the chance to see either of them yet, but she feared that if she didn’t make her move now, she wouldn’t ever get the chance. Soon she was standing right behind her, as Applejack continued to stare out the window. “Uh…hey, AJ,” Dash squeaked out. Applejack jumped at the sound of Dash’s voice, clearly not expecting to hear it. The little filly yawned, and rolled over in her bag, but remained asleep. “R-Rainbow Dash! Ah…Ah didn’t expect to see….who told ya what happened?” she stammered. “Big Macintosh,” Dash said confidently, watching Applejack’s eyes gaze around until she centered on her brother and stared daggers into him. “ Ah don’t know if…” Applejack trailed off, clearly at a loss for words. “Look, I know now’s not exactly a good time, but I want to talk AJ. I don’t want to cause any trouble though,” Dash told her. Applejack sighed. Her mind was racing, being face to face with her old lover again. In the emotional state she was in, she really didn’t need the surprise at the moment. “Alright, meet me outside in five minutes,” Applejack told her. Dash nodded and started for the door. When she was sure Rainbow had left, Applejack went and found Big Macintosh. He’d joined the conversation with Pinkie and Fluttershy, clearly trying to resolve whatever issues his leaving had caused between him and the yellow Pegasus. Applejack pulled him aside for a moment. “Ya’ll told Rainbow Dash?” Applejack said, tears in her eyes resulting from a mixture of the shock of seeing Dash, and the pain she was already feeling from losing Granny Smith. “Now Applejack, ya’ll know Granny Smith would have wanted her here too. She loved all the ponies of Ponyville.” For a moment Applejack looked hurt and confused, but all she could do was accept the fact that her brother was right. “Yeah, I guess,” Applejack said quietly. Big Mac smiled, and raised his hoof to pat Applejack’s shoulder. He gave her a brief hug, then reached over and stroked the mane of the sleeping filly. “No matter what, she’d a been proud of ya,” Big Macintosh said. Outside, Applejack walked up to Rainbow Dash, trying to keep herself from getting too close to the Pegasus. She wanted comfort, but at the moment she wasn’t so sure she wanted it from Rainbow Dash. “So…” Applejack said, lifting her hoof to wipe the tears away. “So…” Dash trailed off too, “How’ve things been?” “Good…well, not really,” she glanced back to check on the little filly, who still remained asleep. “AJ, I’ve waited a long time to tell you this, but I’m sorry,” Dash started quickly. “There were so many times I wanted to tell you, and just couldn’t. I was going nuts. Then Twilight kissed me and…” Much like the last time Dash had seen her, Applejack swung her hoof and smacked Dash in the face, sending Rainbow Dash spiraling into the dirt. “Ouch, what was that?” Dash asked her. “More Ah should’a given ya two years ago,” Applejack replied scornfully. Dash took a few moments to recover, continuing to remain on the ground. “I never said I wanted your forgiveness,” Dash began again, not even completely off of the ground yet. “Ah never said Ah wouldn’t forgive ya,” Applejack cut in, “But did ya think it would be that easy? After everythin’ we was already going through, and you dropped that on me?” Dash felt like everything had picked back up, right from where it had been two years earlier. To her, it felt almost right. More tears began to form in Applejack’s eyes, “Why couldn’t ya tell me, sugarcube? Even Ah don’t think ya could’a expected something like that to happen. Ya were driving yourself crazy over an accident. Don’t think Ah realized that right away either, Ah’ve had a long time to think.” Dash wasn’t sure what to make of her words. It sounded like Applejack was forgiving her, calling it all an accident. But the rift between them didn’t seem any less big. “And Ah’ve been through a lot.” Dash looked to Applejack’s back, where the little cyan filly continued to sleep. “This is Apple Blitz,” Applejack told Dash, smiling as the little filly finally began to stir. “But how AJ?” Dash asked. “Ah was pretty torn up about ya, so when Ah passed through Trottingham, I ran into a stallion. He was a Pegasus, the exact same color as you. His mane was only red, but I couldn’t help but see you in him everytime I looked at him. So Ah got close to him, and just sort of pretended it was you. This stallion was a far cry from ya Rainbow Dash. I guess I’m just not that into the opposite sex,” she said with a small smile. “He left me anyhow, before Ah knew she was comin’.” “So…all this time, you still thought about me?” Dash couldn’t help but grin a little, although part of that came from her ego. “A-A-Ah wanted to work things out, but I heard ya left Ponyville after a while. Fluttershy said you an Twi still kept a thing goin’ for a bit too.” Dash looked away at that. She figured it would come back to haunt her eventually. “It wasn’t much AJ, I kept trying to find you the whole time,” Dash tried to tell her. “We were apart,” Applejack replied, “Ah can’t hold ya for what ya’ll did after I was gone.” “Ah loved ya Rainbow Dash…Ah…Ah still love ya,” Applejack could barely hold in her tears. Everything of the day had finally begun to take its toll, and Applejack dropped to the ground, taking care to not shift her foal too much. She sobbed into the dirt as Dash had seen her do before. Rainbow Dash approached her, wanting to hold her in her time of need. Dash sat down on the ground and wrapped her front legs around Applejack’s neck, pulling her gaze up to stare into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. “Applejack…I’m so sorry, for everything,” Dash started, “But…I want to try and start again. I’ve thought about you for so long. And now you’re here, and I’m here, and I can’t stand to lose you again.” With those words, Applejack thrust herself forward and kissed Rainbow Dash in what Dash would alter call the most amazing kiss she’d ever experienced. The two locked their lips together for several minutes. Happiness overflowed through Dash, and Applejack could feel the tears that were pouring down Rainbow’s face streaming from Dash’s cheeks and down her own muzzle. Finally they pulled apart, and everything seemed alright. After a few moments in which both mare’s processed what had just happened, Applejack and Rainbow Dash both lifted themselves off the ground. She looked back at her filly, who was now wide awake, and looked somewhat confused at what had just happened in front of her. Applejack knew she was too young to really know anything yet, but the look on Apple Blitz’s face made her chuckle. The filly lifted her head up and yawned, flinging her tiny blonde mane over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash could see tiny red streaks that ran through it. The filly opened her eyes to reveal two big green orbs that made Dash’s heart melt. Applejack, with a little bit of fidgeting, unstrapped the pack from her back, and let Apple Blitz out onto the earth for a few minutes. She tried to stand on wobbly legs, but soon fell down with all four legs spread in different directions. The dust she kicked up made her sneeze. She shook the her tiny head and rolled over on her back, and began to play with her tail, much like Rarity’s cat did as a kitten. Both mare’s couldn’t help but smile at the little filly. “So one more try?” Dash said, sounding happier than she had in a long time. “No more tries, sugarcube,” Applejack told her, “It’s going to work this time.” Behind them, the four other friends of the two stared out the windows of Sugarcube Corner, watching as the two mares kissed again, painting a beautiful picture as the sun set behind them. “Ah love you, Dash,” Applejack said sweetly. “Ah love you too,” Dash replied. Together, they watched the sun set as Apple Blitz rolled around in the dirt. In the distance, Sweet Apple acres looked nearly as beautiful as it once had. Applejack hoped that the future would be full of happy memories, like the ones she’d shared with everyone not so long ago, in her Old Apple Acres Home. (Author’s Note: Well, I hope everyone enjoyed it. I’ve got a lot of errors to go back and fix, and there are still alternate endings and a new fic I’m starting soon after this, so this will still have a few updates. Thanks so much to my prereader Zev, who started about halfway through and it really shows how much better he is at proofreading this than I am. Again, thanks to all my readers, and I hope you continue to read whatever I come out with next.)
Extra Chapter: Story TimeIt was another night in Ponyville, and much like every other night, the residents were retiring into their houses for some well deserved rest. For Applejack, even though a week had passed since the funeral, it still felt very strange to have Rainbow Dash back in her life again. It was still a good feeling though, no longer having to think about how empty she had felt inside for so long. Another strange feeling to her was that they were once again staying in Twilight’s library; somewhere three years ago she would have sworn she would never set foot in again, and just over a week ago wouldn’t have ever imagined to be sharing the room with Rainbow Dash again. With another round of apologies, Twilight had welcomed Rainbow Dash back in almost immediately. Dash had been unsure of staying in the library again. Aside from the bad memories from the night Applejack had left Ponyville, Dash also had the extra emotional baggage left over from the year she spent with Twilight. Despite accepting all the apologies, and even finding herself very happy for her friend now that she was with Rarity, she couldn’t help but to look back on that time with some disdain. However, Dash knew Twilight was still her friend, and since things were improving, she wanted to try and leave the past where it was. And now it was eight in the evening, and Rainbow Dash was just coming in from grabbing a few items from the market in Ponyville Square. She nudged the door into the room slowly open, and looked in on the most beautiful mare she’d ever known. Her eyes locked with Applejack’s green glinting eyes as she walked in. A rustling next to her made Dash glance down, as the cutest filly she’d ever laid eyes rolled over next to her mother and laid flat on the bed, staring up with her own pair of big green orbs. “No luck getting her to bed?” Dash asked, realizing how obvious the answer to the question was. “This lil’ one ain’t sleepin’ fer nothin’,” Applejack said and smiled as the cyan filly rolled over onto her back and swung her legs back and forth as if trying to run on the air. “Maybe Twilight’s got a book we can read ta her,” Applejack said. Rainbow shrugged, deciding it couldn’t hurt. Applejack climbed down from the bed, then reached out her hoof and scooped the little filly off the bed, placing her gently on her back. The cyan filly began to playfully tug on her mother’s mane as she trotted into the library, Rainbow following closely behind her. Twilight was still up, studying some sort of text given to her by Princess Celestia. “Applejack! I thought you had gone to bed already,” Twilight perked up at the sight. The purple unicorn walked over to the mother and daughter, and put her face close to Apple Blitz’s. Blitz stared back with her wide eyes, seeming to analyze every little bit of Twilight that she could. Twilight lit up with the biggest grin. Even Dash couldn’t help but grin at how adorable the filly could be. “She’s just too cute, Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed, “I can’t get over it.” “Yeah, Ah know,” Applejack blushed a little, “Say, Twi, Ah was lookin’ for a certain book to read to the little one here tonight.” “Oh? What was it called?” Twilight asked, especially curious as she couldn’t remember Applejack having ever checked out a book from her, now or from the days before she left Ponyville. “Ah think it was called “A Pony’s Requiem” or somethin’ like that,” Applejack told her, “Ah used to read it ta Applebloom when she was just a foal too.” “Of course I have that one,” Twilight bounded over to a shelf of books, and began scanning the spines for the right one. Applejack continued to wait as Twilight went from shelf to shelf, trying to remember exactly where she had last seen it. Meanwhile, Apple Blitz got herself tangled in the braids of Applejack’s hair. AJ laughed, and sat down to begin pulling the filly out from the golden strands. Apple Blitz began to whimper as she tried her best to free herself. Dash lifted herself into the air, and pulled Apple Blitz up by her red-streaked mane, freeing her from the remaining tangles, and sitting her gently on the floor. “Success!” Twilight exclaimed, making Applejack jump a little bit in surprise. Twilight levitated the book from its hole on one of the high shelves, and sat it down on the table. Dash clamped the book gently between her teeth, and fluttered back towards the bedroom. “Many thanks Twilight,” Applejack said happily. Twilight shut her eyes and grinned from ear to ear. She walked over to them again, and stroked Apple Blitz’s tiny mane, admiring the bright red streaks that ran through the mane that otherwise matched her mother’s, pulled back into a small ponytail and all. Giving Applejack a hand, Twilight levitated the little filly, who looked a bit surprised to be almost flying, back onto her mother’s back for the trip back to the room. With another happy look, Twilight watched as they retired back into their room for the rest of the night. Moments later with the covers pulled down and pillows neatly arranged so the little filly wouldn’t roll off of the bed during the night, Applejack laid down next to her daughter while Rainbow Dash laid at the foot of the bed, ready to read her a bedtime story. “Your Aunt Applebloom loved this story when she was a filly,” Applejack said softly to Apple Blitz, who was sitting on one of the fluffy white pillows next to her mother and staring at the cover of the book. “Are you sure you want me to read this, AJ?” Dash asked “Ah’course Sugarcube,” Applejack said sweetly, “If ya’ll wants to be part of our lives, ya gotta learn ta do things like this.” Applejack knew Blitz was too young to even begin to understand the book, and would likely fall asleep at the sound of anypony talking after a while, but she liked the idea of reading again since there had come a time when Applebloom didn’t think it was cool to be getting read bedtime stories anymore. “Alright,” Dash began, “This is the story of Zev…” Sometimes things happen without warning, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sometimes even the most unwilling pony can be thrown into a situation they never dreamed they’d be a part of. For one pony, such a situation came upon him nearly a thousand years ago, on the eve of Nightmare Moon’s rise. The city of Canterlot appeared even larger than the teal-maned pony had expected. He’d been surprised when he’d received a letter from the royal pony sisters, asking him to perform his music at this year’s Summer Sun Celebration. He really hadn’t expected to have such an honor bestowed upon him, but as it turned out, while visiting Maresfield on one of her annual trips, Princess Celestia had seen him play his guitar at a small eatery that one of her students had invited her to, and while he hadn’t had interacted with Celestia personally, he must have made a good impression on the sun princess. With his guitar slung over his back, the charcoal colored pony strolled his way into the city. Several brightly colored fillies ran by him, flowing streamers with bright yellow suns drawn on them clutched firmly in between their teeth. The pony smiled as he continued on, headed for the large castle at the heart of the city. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- His name was Zev, and despite the length of time it’d taken him a long time to obtain his quarter rest cutie mark, he’d known nearly all his life what he’d wanted to do. He knew that this could be the defining moment in his life, the point where everything turned around, and he finally received much wider recognition. He’d been practicing for weeks since he’d been invited, and he was sure that he couldn’t be more ready. Now he was standing at the gates of the Canterlot Castle, ready for his night to begin. Zev trotted up through the main gate, past several guards clad in golden armor that glinted brightly in Celestia’s warm sunlight. Many other ponies were crowding in as well, ready for the all night party that would end at dawn, when all of Canterlot could witness Luna bringing down her moon, and Celestia bringing the sun up for the new day. Zev could hear them talking all around him, each pony talking about something they wished to take part in over the course of the celebration. Zev only wanted to find the pony in charge of the entertainment. After a few moments, Zev chanced asking one of the guards if they had any idea where he was supposed to go. The guard was nice enough show him to a smaller entrance, usually only used by the guards and servants to the princesses, and soon Zev was inside the castle, waiting on a silver-maned unicorn levitating a clipboard in front of his face to give him his info. “Hmmm, Zev,” the pony said, turning over page after page, squinting his eyes at each row of words written on the papers. “Ah yes, here you are. You’ll be playing on the main stage at five a.m., last act of the night before it is time for Princess Luna to lower the moon. “ Zev thanked him for the information, and decided to head back outside for a bit. He wanted to find a nice place to relax for a while he waited for night to fall. He glanced around for a moment, then noticed the castle gardens, which drew in many a wild animal, but not many ponies seemed to be interested in seeing. Zev made his way towards them quickly, avoiding much contact with anypony else. Once inside, he searched around for a nice place to rest. It didn’t take long before he found a large tree, crawling with all varieties of small, furry animals. It felt right to him, so he plopped down into the soft grass, and gently swung the guitar case from his back, and placed it beside him. As an earth pony, he’d become quite proficient with his hooves on making sure his guitar was finely tuned, and so there he sat, making sure his guitar would sound perfect, and relaxing in the cool summer breeze. Before long, he passed out under the warm summer sun. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Zev awoke, Luna’s moon was high in the sky. He wasn’t entirely sure what time it was, so he packed up his belongings and got ready to head to the party that was already in full swing. Before leaving, Zev turned back to the tree he’d been resting under. He craned his neck to reach his saddlebag, and pulled a small knife out with his teeth. Gently, he carved his own name into the bark. “For when I’m gone, some ponies will still be able to remember my name,” he said to himself with a smile before putting the knife back and heading toward the party. When he arrived back at the front doors leading inside the palace, he noticed a large clock that told him the time was one-thirty; he still had a few hours before his set. After walking inside, he saw several large rooms, each decorated with banners and streamers of warm colors where ponies of all colors and sizes were participating in a variety of activities. He knew he was to play on the main stage, which was set up in the main ballroom; a circular room surrounded by columns that separated various hallways which lead to many of the castle’s other chambers. It didn’t take him long to find it. He walked around, looking at all the regal ponies and more common ponies alike, some talking of a variety of topics, others dancing to the music being played by the group of ponies that were currently on stage. However, as Zev went fromroom to room, he quickly noticed that something seemed to be missing from the festivities: the Royal Pony Sisters. He was surprised that neither one was seen mingling with their subjects. He found a guard that was stationed near one of the castle stairwells, and got in close to the Pegasus pony. “Hey, uhm, Mr. Guard, any chance you know where the Princesses might be tonight?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. “That is private information!” the guard snapped, making Zev stumble back in surprise. Zev didn’t bother pressing this particular guard further. For a moment he considered why he would even care, but he realized that after receiving such an honor as to perform during the celebration, he’d be a little disappointed if neither of Equestria’s rulers were able to see his performance. Before Zev could continue to think on the matter, his stomach began to rumble, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since arriving in Canterlot earlier that day. He decided that maybe he’d see what the finest Canterlot chef’s had prepared for the occasion. First though, Zev decided to head backstage and drop off his instrument and bags. It didn’t take long for him to find a spot for his things, and soon he was munching down rose soufflé, mini-bluegrass sandwiches, and dandelion ice cream. He sat all alone at one of the few empty tables in the dining hall of the castle, enjoying each passing moment as his stomach became fuller and fuller. When he was finally finished, he clasped a napkin between his hooves, and wiped away the bits and pieces that had fallen onto his charcoal colored coat. He sat for a long while, lost in many thoughts. He found it hard to believe he wasn’t the least bit scared of performing just before Celestia’s big appearance, and yet the fact neither Royal Sister had shown up all night made him feel strangely uneasy. Still he wondered if he was just being paranoid, as he hadn’t heard the issue spoken of amongst the crowds of other ponies. He continued to think for a long while, letting his mind run free with the best and worst scenarios he could think of. He’d finally managed to get his food from the royal buffet at around two, and by the time he finally snapped back to reality, it was just turning four. Realizing the time, he tossed his trash into a bin near the entrance to the dining hall, and headed back for his things. When he got there, he quickly began tuning up his instrument and started to strum out a few chords, making sure he had everything perfect. His guitar was very different from the one’s most ponies played. Too many musical ponies were unicorns who had the advantage of magic to aid them, but Zev had modified his own so that the strings were spaced well enough to accommodate his hooves, while not sacrificing a bit of the quality any other version of the instrument would have. Putting the princesses out of his mind, he began to worry that his music wouldn’t be as well liked as any of the other artists that had gone on before him. Maybe everypony was tired of the entertainment by now, ready to see Celestia finally raise the sun. What if he had a technical problem halfway through his set, or what if something happened to him? All these thoughts swam through his mind, making him more and more paranoid before his performance. He already knew hundreds, maybe thousands, of ponies came from all over Equestria to take part in the festivities when they were held in Canterlot, so he couldn’t help but think he would have a lot to live up to. Zev took a deep breath and held it for a few moments. He exhaled and tried to calm himself, trying to put his mind at ease. He knew that regardless if any of his fears were true, if he went out on stage in such a state he’d likely put on the worst show of his life regardless. He closed his eyes, and propping the guitar between his forelegs, he began to play one a song that always seemed to get the best response from his crowds. He called it “Do I Deserve a Requiem When I’m Gone?”, and despite the somber nature, his crowds always seemed to love it. After running through it entirely, Zev opened his eyes, refreshed and relaxed. His confidence returning, he began to strum out another one of his tunes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not long after, the group that had been onstage came walking through the back, each pony smiling and chatting about the cheers and applause they’d received from the audience. A pegasus dressed in formal attire followed them, finding Zev at the ready to head up to the stage. “Last show of evening,” the formal pony said, “Zeke, Zurg…what’s your name again?” “Zev,” he replied cooly. “Well Zev, I’m going to go announce you, and then you come up and be ready to start. Princess Celestia should be beginning the ceremony at six, so you need to be done before then. No exception!” Zev nodded, and watched as he trotted back through the stage entrance. Zev waited anxiously until he heard the announcer calling him to come out. Claps and a few cheers preceded his entrance, giving him hope that this wouldn’t go too badly after all. He pulled up a chair to the front of the stage, and sat on his flank, with his feet dangling to the ground as he held his guitar between his forelegs. It was a most unusual way for anypony to sit, but it felt natural to Zev. He decided not to address the crowd, and slowly took one more deep breath. He exhaled, and began to play. Dash looked up from the book, glancing over at Apple Blitz, who had long been asleep. She smiled at how cute the little filly looked curled up on her own little pillow, and was amazed by how loud she could snore at such a young age. She then glanced over to Applejack and got ready to close the book, but Applejack reached out a hoof and stopped her. “Keep on readin’ hun,” Applejack whispered, trying to keep from waking her daughter. “But she’s already asleep,” Dash replied. “Plus, this is probably the longest time I’ve ever spent reading anything that wasn’t a comic book.” Applejack chuckled, trying to restrain herself from making too much noise. “Ah know, but I just like to listen to ya.” Dash blushed, her face becoming as red as the streak in her mane. Quickly she tried to act cool about it, and dug her head back into the book. From there she continued reading. When five-forty-five rolled around, Zev was finishing his final song, the one he’d played to calm his nerves not long before. When he was finished, he looked up at the crowd, who took no time in erupting into cheers. His audience had grown significantly from the time he started, as many other ponies had begun to filter in from the other rooms, knowing Celestia was set to address everyone from the main stage before it was time to raise the sun. Zev stood, and took a small bow, before exiting off stage. Other ponies that had performed that night were also back stage, and congratulated him for putting on such a wonderful performance. He nodded, not one to let himself get carried away too much by the praise. He quickly found the rest of his things again, and carefully put his guitar away, then slung his bags back over his back. He wasn’t sure he wanted to stay and watch the sunrise. After all, despite getting to watch Princess Celestia use her magic, it would still be the same sunrise everypony in Equestria would see every day. With his belongings now loaded up, Zev decided to head for the main hallway leading to castle doors that would get him on his way out of Canterlot. As he started to leave, he noticed another clock that had been set-up for the artists waiting to go onstage, that told him it was now six in the morning. Seeing the time, he decided that he may as well stick around to see the princesses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By six-fifteen, many of the ponies in the ballroom were getting anxious. Luna’s moon was still high in the sky, and there was no sign of Princess Celestia yet. Suddenly, a massive blast rocked the castle, sending several of the guests into a frenzy. Before anyone could leave ; however, the castle doors swung open with great force, startling many of the ponies nearby. Zev could not see this, but he could hear the cries from the main hallway. Soon everypony had turned to watch as a tall, dark figure marched its way down the hallway towards the ballroom. They moved back in fear, creating a path straight to the main stage for whomever was coming to walk down. Reaching the light of the ballroom, everpony’s gaze fell upon a tall black alicorn wearing blue armor, who had the strangest teal-colored eyes. She glanced around at all the different looks she was getting from the guests. She arrived at the main stage and flew up onto it, the regal Pegasus who’d been announcing the musical acts scrambling away before she landed. “Do none of you recognize me, now that I have become the true mare I was meant to be?” she asked, and nopony offered a response. “Surely you don’t recognize your dear Princess Luna? However, that is no longer my name!” Gasps escaped from the crowds at hearing this had been the smaller alicorn that had stood beside her sister for so long. “You may now all call me Nightmare Moon! And I am here to bring an end to the wretched sunlight that poisons the minds of ponies everywhere! When can any of you say you truly looked up and appreciated the beauty of my moon in the night sky? You will all appreciate it now. And where is my sister you ask? She has fled from Canterlot, too afraid of the power I have gained to stand against me! Surely nopony else would dare to try and stop me?” Soon the ballroom was in a panic as ponies began to flee in every direction, Nightmare Moon laughing loudly over the cries of the ponies. Zev found himself caught up in the chaos, unsure of which way to go. He began to move back towards the main hallway to try and make his way out through the front. Meanwhile, a squad of Pegasus guards flew over his head, ready to stand against Nightmare Moon. Whipping her starry mane back and forth created a great wind, which sent the pegasi flying backwards and crashing through several of the palace windows. Nightmare Moon continued to laugh in triumph. Soon, Nightmare Moon began to glance around through the mobs of ponies trying to squeeze down the hallways towards the exits. She wanted to find a pony to toy with, to show them the extent of her powers so that they would spread the word about just what Nightmare Moon was capable of, and what she would do if they didn’t start appreciating her beautiful eternal night. Amidst them all, she saw a teal mane against a charcoal coat, and decided to levitate that pony to her. Zev felt the magic begin to wrap around his body as he was pulled out of the throngs of gueats that were slowly cramming their bodies into the already jammed hallway. He struggled with all his might to free himself, but whatever magic was being used was far too strong for an earth pony like him to break through. Soon he was face to face with Nightmare Moon. “Ah, a musician. An admirable profession, especially for the less talented Earth ponies. Tell me your name,” Nightmare Moon commanded. “Zev,” he said weakly, trying to not show any fear as he stared into the slits that were Nightmare Moon’s pupils. In reality, Zev had never been more terrified. Being held so close to the alicorn, he was sure she was going to murder him very soon. Nightmare Moon released the magic she was using, dropping Zev to the ground on his hooves, and looked down upon his unchanging expression. “You don’t seem to fear me pony,” Nightmare Moon observed out loud, “Are you not afraid of what I could do to you?” “No,” Zev stated, again trying to seal his fear away. He was sure if he showed any sign of weakness against the alicorn she would surely destroy him without hesitation. “Hmmm, play me a song musician,” Nightmare Moon commanded of him. In a flash, Zev had tossed his guitar case from his back, and was pulling the instrument out in no time. Since he’d just played it less than an hour before, he didn’t bother trying to tune it. He didn’t figure the alicorn would give him long anyway. Just as he began to play, a starry blue cloud of magic formed around his guitar, pulling it from his hooves and began to wave it wildly in the air. Nightmare Moon cackled as she whipped it back and forth, finally sending it down with a sickening crack against the hard castle floor. The instrument shattered into a hundred pieces in front of Zev’s icy-blue eyes. In his mind, he was sure the loud crack he’d heard was his own heart, watching the one thing he loved most shatter before him. Nightmare Moon continued to laugh as Zev stood motionless before her. He couldn’t speak, he could only stare at his life on the floor. A hatred he’d never felt before began to bubble inside him, flowing through his chest and surging across the rest of his body. He turned towards the alicorn, a new fire burning inside his soul. With all his might, Zev charged at Nightmare Moon, lowering his head and bracing for impact. He struck her hard in her ribs, sending her toppling off stage as she let out a cry of surprise. Zev stood tall on the edge of the stage, panting from the energy he’d manage to unleash upon her. It didn’t take long for Nightmare Moon to regain her balance, looking no worse for wear. “You foalish colt, how dare you even think to touch the royal form of Nightmare Moon?!” lightning struck around her as she spoke, nearly missing Zev by inches. Before he could try and attack again or make an escape, Nightmare Moon transformed herself into a black cloud of smoke, which quickly whirled around Zev, lifting him from the stage and bringing him high above the castle floor. The smoke began to speed its rotation around him, faster and faster, until it flung him with excessive force against on the castle walls. Before he could plummet to the floor below, it caught him in mid-air, performing the same tactic and slinging him across the room, through a statue of the Royal Pony Sisters, and into the opposite wall. As he collided with it, Zev could taste the pool of blood that had begun to pool in his mouth. Then down he fell, but was again picked up by Nightmare Moon and thrown again, this time sending him crashing through one of the remaining windows. As he tumbled through the air he could see the castle getting further and further away, soon seeing a large amount of green coming closer and closer. He landed hard in the castle gardens, not far from where he had napped hours before. Many of the curious animals that lived there began to poke their heads out to look or scamper toward Zev to find out why a pony had fallen there. Suddenly the black smoke whooshed into the field, sending many of the animals back into hiding. Zev tried his best to look up as the black form of Nightmare Moon once again towered over him. “You were very brave to attack me musician,” she said honestly, “But it is a mistake that could not go unpunished. Surely you wouldn’t dare to pursue this little vendetta any further would you?” Zev lay against the ground, his flank and hind legs sticking upwards toward the sky, his head and front legs limp. He said nothing to the black alicorn. He didn’t want to speak to her. His mind was already flooded with memories, from the first time he’d laid hooves on his guitar, to when he’d finally been able to make the modifications he wanted, to his first live performance. He’d never felt such love for anypony or anything else as he had his guitar, and the mare standing over him had taken it all away. Truly, he was sure he no longer cared what she did to him, any threat she made against his life was nearly hollow, as he had already lost what was most precious to him. Slowly, he lifted one of his front legs and tried to stand. Pain shot through his side as he tried to steady his weight. He was sure he had some bones broken somewhere, but the pain was of little concern to him. He gritted his teeth and stomped his hoof with his good leg, ready to challenge Nightmare Moon again as he rose. Finally, standing as tall as he could, Zev tried to gallop head on at the alicorn once again. His legs however did not cooperate, and he found himself crashing head first into her legs. The hit did not phase Nightmare Moon yet again. “Tsk tsk, little pony. I guess I can’t make you learn. Oh well,” and with that her horn glowed, and Zev was soon sent spiraling through trees and shrubs, slamming into birds nests and beehives, and breaking through several branches until he finally slammed hard into a very large tree. His back began to throb from the hit as he once again fell to the ground. His vision blurry, he tried to get a glimpse of where he was. He found himself able to make out a single word carved into the tree he’d collided with: Zev. He’d been thrown into the tree he had napped under not long ago. He realized he might be sleeping even longer under it very soon. He tried to move, but not one part of his body would cooperate. His gaze began to get worse, everything going dark and coming back to him in rapid succession. A pounding in his head stopped him from hearing the sound of hoofsteps as the black mare approached him from the woods. His vision leaving, and then again returning he saw her standing over him, a look of anger on her face. His vision blacked again, just in time for him not to see the hoof of Nightmare Moon slamming quickly down towards his head. Dash shut the book. “Gosh, Ah can’t believe Applebloom loved that book so much,” Applejack said, “It ain’t very happy, that’s fer sure.” Dash nodded. In her mind, she imagined Zev, a cool pony like herself, only he was what she might have been if she hadn’t been able to help harness the Elements of Harmony. It was quite a sad story. Applejack had kept Dash reading to her for over an hour since Apple Blitz had dozed off. There was more to the story, Princess Celestia returning to the castle with the Elements of Harmony that had been taken from their old castle in the Everfree Forest, the site where the sisters had fought Discord long before. And then the story followed the traditional “Mare in the Moon” story from there. Regardless, Dash had picked a good point to stop, as both mares were beginning to find themselves very tired. Dash pulled a blanket and a pillow down to the floor, letting Applejack share the bed with Apple Blitz, and got ready to lie down. Before she could however, she felt a hoof poke her in the chin, and pull her back up to eye level with Applejack. The orange mare leaned in and kissed Dash passionately. It was one of many they’d shared over the past week, but it always felt amazing. They held it long, neither wanting to break away, both wishing such a moment could last forever. Finally Applejack pulled back, her face glowing with happiness. Dash leaned back in and kissed her on her freckled cheek, before sliding back down into the floor. Applejack curled up next to her tiny filly, and kissed her on the head. Before long, Applejack was snoring right alongside her daughter, and Dash was sleeping peacefully nearby. It may have been coincidence, something that in a world of magic such as Equestria does not happen often, that Princess Luna was taking a walk through the Royal Gardens outside her palace. She’d come to spot she hadn’t visit in over a thousand years. A large tree grew from the spot, now the biggest tree in the gardens. On it was inscribed a single word. A name; Zev. Luna stared at the spot for a long time, lost in her thoughts. Before long, Celestia came to join her. “We hate what we did to him, sister,” Luna said sadly as Celestia wrapped a loving wing around her. “Things were different then. Something made you different. It’s not your fault Luna,” Celestia said in a comforting voice. Using her magic, Celestia picked a rose from a nearby bush, and laid it under the tree as a small memorial. With her magic, Luna carved the shape of a guitar, one nearly identical to the one the pony was known for playing, into the bark below his name. Luna managed a smile as Celestia pulled her away, leading them back towards the palace, and leaving behind the testament that a pony named Zev had tried to stand against Nightmare Moon, and that despite everything he lost, he did get one thing he always wanted: to be remembered forever.
My Old Apple Acre Home Part 1The sun was rising over Sweet Apple Acres, as Applejack stirred from a peaceful sleep. She climbed out of bed and walked to the window. She lightly nudged the shutters open and watched as the beautiful golden streaks washed across the orange morning sky. It was the clearest morning she had seen in quite some time. “G’mornin’ Sweet Apple Acres,” she whispered, smiling as all the colors of the morning shined gloriously before her. The big red apples glistened from the morning dew, making the trees sparkle like orange holiday lights. It was times like this Applejack could not think of anywhere she would rather be. Of course none of this would have been possible had it not been for Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus pony sat on a cloud high above Applejack’s window. She let out a sigh and grinned at her hard work. She knew Applejack loved these kind of mornings, and had done everything she could to make it look its best. Unfortunately this had also taken up the part of her sleep time, and she was exhausted. Still, she could imagine Applejack’s bright green eyes shimmering against the sunlight, with a big smile on her face. All for my best friend, she thought happily to herself. She decided to drop down and surprise Applejack. What Rainbow Dash hadn’t expected is how much the early morning work had taken its toll on her body. Extremely tired and barely able to stay aloft, Rainbow Dash’s wings tensed up, and she plummeted right past Applejack’s window and to the ground below. “Now what in tarna—Rainbow Dash! Ya sure are here early,” Applejack called down, peering over the side of the windowsill. “Ouch,” Dash said, rubbing her head. Rainbow Dash stood up and got her bearings then flew up slowly to Applejack’s window. Applejack stepped back and let the Pegasus pony inside. “Well now, Ah’d a never expected ya to be out this early, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack told her with an amused smile on her face. “Beautiful morning, isn’t it,” Dash tried to say while remaining cool, but gave a large yawn right after. “Why a’course it is, ‘specially when somepony stays out all night trying to make it for ya,” Applejack trotted over to Rainbow Dash and gave her a hug. “But ya don’t do this just fer anypony, or fer me very often either. So what’s this about Rainbow Dash?” Dash blushed a little and nodded to the calendar. Applejack walked over and took a look at the date. “It’s the day we first met AJ. I’d never forget it.” “Ah’d never forget that. That there day was terrible.” The two ponies had a good laugh. Applejack turned back to look as Celestia’s sun rose higher and higher into the sky. She got ready to thank Rainbow Dash, and turned around to find Dash curled up on her floor fast asleep. Applejack smiled and pulled the sheet from her bed and draped it over Rainbow Dash. “T’aint as comfy as them clouds ya like so much, but I hope it’ll do ya for now,” Applejack whispered, then headed out of her room. “Sleep tight, sugarcube,” she said and headed down for breakfast. After a few hours, Rainbow Dash woke up. The floor of the farmhouse had not been soft, but Dash had had few sleeps that had been better. She stretched her wings and fluttered to the window, looking towards the sun to get a good idea of the time. It was nearly midday, so Rainbow Dash was sure Applejack was selling apples down at Ponyville Square. She wanted to thank her for letting her crash unexpectedly in her room for the past few hours. Rainbow Dash flipped her rainbow mane over her back, and soared out of Applejack’s window and headed towards town. As she soared along, she could see AJ’s brother, Big Macintosh, bucking apples below. Granny Smith sat by the barn, rattling on about something or another, oblivious to if anyone else was really listening at all. Fluttershy had come by to help Applejack, and Dash could see her fluttering around the trees, speaking with her animal friends about why there were better places to nest and eat than in the orchard. She also caught sight of the Cutie Mark Crusaders scurrying off into the trees towards their club house. Rainbow Dash had to admit, for all the beauty she had seen in Cloudsdale, Sweet Apple Acres could be a breath-taking sight in its own right. But in all its beauty, right now it was missing one thing: Applejack. ___________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure how long it’d been since she’d realized her feelings for Applejack, but once she had, they’d been there to stay. She never tried to even hint about them to Applejack, afraid of what her best friend would even say to her, but whenever they would spend time together, Dash couldn’t be happier. She glided low as she came into town, and landed in front of Sugarcube Corner. Before she had even folded her wings, Pinkie Pie burst through the window of the shop. “Oh Rainbow Dash it’s been so long since I’ve seen you which was just yesterday but that feels so long and I thought maybe you might just fly off someday and never come back and we’d all be so sad but here you are right here right!” Pinkie rambled on and on. “It’s nice to see you too, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash chuckled and then asked, “You seen Applejack around?” “Oh of course I see her around all the time and we need to bake better cupcakes because last time wasn’t so great but I know this time will be but I think she was going to try and sell today by Rarity’s shop!” Dash thanked her and headed out. Pinkie seemed extra Pinkie today, and Dash wasn’t sure she could handle all that Pinkie right now, especially with so much on her mind. After a short walk she found Applejack’s cart, piled high with its usual sweets. Three fillies had just finished buying some apple crumb cake when Rainbow Dash came up. “Mornin’ sleepy head!” Applejack grinned, “Hopin’ the floor wasn’ too uncomfortable fer ya.” “No, of course not, never slept better!” she stretched out and bared her teeth. This may have sounded like a lie to Applejack, but Dash couldn’t have been more serious. “But, heya…thanks,” Dash managed to tell her, trying not to blush over the fact she kept thinking about her feelings. “Ah, a’int nothin’ I wouldn’t do fer anypony,” Applejack told her. Dash’s heart sank a little at this. She knew she was Applejack’s best friend, but was she really just anypony too? “Off ta do more trainin’ fer the Wonderbolts today?” “Naw, work today. Tomorrow is the scheduled shower, and I’ve got to help make more clouds,” Dash said, trying her best to cover her slight depression. Another group of hungry ponies wandered up to Applejack’s cart, so Rainbow Dash thought it best she bid her friend farewell and get to work. She didn’t get far into the air when she heard somepony yelling at about a problem. Rainbow Dash pushed through a group of clouds to see an older Pegasus colt barking orders at a very bewildered Derpy Hooves. “I told you exactly what we had to do up here today, Derpy! You can’t party in Ponyville and hang out in Cloudsdale all day. You’re on the weather team today, and you gotta contribute like the rest of us. And this is UNACCEPTABLE!” the colt continued to raise his voice as Derpy sat staring almost blankly, unfazed by the insults being thrown at her. Dash could see that the unacceptable contribution was in fact a large, black thunderhead cloud. It sent sparks of lightning coursing through the air around it. The colt looked up and spotted Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash!” he seemed to cheer up almost instantly, “Thank Celestia that you’re here. I need a favor. Show Mrs. Hooves here just how a real weather pony makes it rain.” With a few quick motions Dash had whipped up a fluffy grey cloud, full of water ready to be released for the shower. Derpy clapped. “Thanks Rainbow Dash,” the colt nodded, then nudged Derpy to come with him. “I’m taking her back to Cloudsdale. Can you get rid of that thunderhead for me?” “No prob,” Rainbow Dash said confidently, and readied herself for a kick that would demolish the thunderhead. It was at the point she realized she actually hadn’t gone far from where Applejack was, and she could see her cart on the ground below. What she did not like that she was seeing was a large brown colt chatting with Applejack. She wasn’t sure how long they’d been talking, but it looked like he was taking an awfully long time to buy some apples. Dash watched intently as the conversation continued, culminating in the colt getting very close to Applejack, and saying something that made her giggle and blush profusely. With that, the colt nodded and winked, and trotted away. Rainbow Dash had seen enough. “Argh, he better watch who he’s talking to!” Dash exclaimed out loud, and gave a swift backwards kick. Unfortunately her kick was misplaced, and instead of bursting the thunderhead, she sent it soaring away from her. “Oh man,” she face-hoofed. She vowed she would go find it soon, after she talked to someone. “So you’re…jealous?” Twilight Sparkle questioned her friend. “Jealous, me? She’s a mare like me, Twilight. How could I be jealous?” Rainbow Dash retorted defensively. “Well, you don’t have to be so defensive. I only meant that maybe you’re afraid somepony else is going to come in and take away the time you and Applejack spend together.” “Oh, uh, ahem, yeah,” Dash couldn’t help but blush a little, but she never stopped trying to act cool about everything. “I certainly cherish each and every moment I have with each of you. It’s really amazing being able to make such good friends after it being just me and Spike for so long,” Twilight continued on. Before the conversation could go on any longer, Rarity burst through the door. “Excuse me girls, I don’t mean to barge in or anything, but SOMETHING BAD IS HAPPENING AT SWEET APPLE ACRES!” When the group arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, all they found was complete chaos. Entire sections of the orchard were on fire, the orange flames seeming to touch the clouds above. Fluttershy was escaping through the blaze with a herd of frightened animals. They all scurried away as fast as they could. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh had already made it outside the farm and were watching in horror as everything the apple family had worked at for generations burned before their eyes. Applejack raced up a moment later. She stopped quickly, and her mouth hung agape at what she was seeing. “Where’s Applebloom and Winona?” she quickly asked. “Applebloom was with her friends in the woods,” Big Macintosh told her. “I couldn’t find Winona when I was herding the little animals out of the fire,” Fluttershy told her. “Well ah’m going in there then!” Applejack said before racing towards the inferno. Without a second thought, Rainbow Dash flew above her, and started whipping up rain clouds to try and put out the fire. Suddenly, a blinding flash lit the sky for a moment, and the air around her grew hot. She knew instantly what it was. The thunderhead she had sent flying had ended up over Sweet Apple Acres, and the lightning it was producing had set the trees ablaze. Quickly, Rainbow Dash dispatched the cloud, and began to whip up more rain clouds to combat the blaze. Applejack meanwhile had headed into the farmhouse, which had been set by the last lightning flash. She searched around until she found Winona, shivering under the kitchen table. She snatched Winona up by the collar in her mouth and dashed for the door. A rather large piece of roof caved in, blocking the exit. Applejack turned hoof and ran towards the kitchen and the back door. She could feel the heat through the ceiling, and thought about everything belonging to her family that was being charred above. Winona’s whimpers however prodded her to continue to escape the inferno. She ran out into a small rainstorm, which Rainbow Dash had managed to create to form a safe path leading out of the blaze. Even this was not enough to stop the monstrous blaze tearing through the orchard. Applejack followed the rain path back to where her friends and family were waiting. Suddenly, a sickening creak split the air. Applejack didn’t have to turn around to know what that was. The farmhouse supports began to give way, and it came crashing down into a burning heap in the middle of the orchard. Rainbow Dash was sure it was a lost cause, but she frantically continued to whip up more and more rain clouds. Very soon she was joined by many other Pegasus ponies that had seen the fire from Ponyville or Cloudsdale. Together, they reduced the blaze to cinders within a matter of minutes. However, the damage had already been done. When it was over, most of the buildings on Sweet Apple Acres were completely destroyed, and half of the apple crop was charred beyond use. Rainbow Dash landed, and stared at the solemn expression on Applejack’s face. Dash was afraid now, more so than she had ever admitted to being in her entire life. This had been her fault, and she could have prevented it. Once again she’d let something come between her and what she should have been doing. This has never happened before, she thought to herself, I’m in charge of the weather around here. This can’t be right. I only left it for a bit…I was going to… Rainbow Dash kept going over it in her head as to why she had been so careless. For a moment, everyone just sat in silence, unsure of what to do next. Fluttershy leaned towards Big Macintosh as tears most thought he could never shed slowly began trickling down his face. Pinkie Pie arrived to the scene, and stayed respectfully quiet, despite her usually loud and upbeat demeanor. Coming out of hiding, the Cutie Mark Crusaders crowded around Granny Smith, and while Granny Smith had a tendency to be in her own little world, everyone could see how hard it all was on her heart. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie embraced Applejack in a silent hug. Rainbow fluttered high above them, a feeling of disgust bubbling up in her stomach. She didn’t want to face Applejack now, she couldn’t. She kept telling herself it was an accident, but each time her mind would remind her If your jealousy hadn’t gotten the best of you Rainbow Dash, maybe you’d of thought twice and finished your job first. A few tears dripped from Rainbow’s eyes, and fell towards the ground. They rained down upon Applejack’s mane, making her glance upwards. The blue Pegasus was no longer anywhere to be found in the sky. That night, a group meeting had been called at Twilight’s Library to discuss some ideas and let the Apple family decide what they were going to do. “I’ve been working on my reversal spell,” Twilight said with enthusiasm, “Maybe I can reverse the damage done and fix this whole mess.” Before Applejack could give her approval, Big Macintosh stepped in. “That’s a might sweet of ya, Twilight. But we’re Earth ponies, always have been, and our families’ never been using no magic to do the work for us. We’ll get back on our hooves the normal way.” Both Twilight and Applejack sank down in their chairs at the news. Applejack had barely said a word since she’d returned with Winona. There was so much going on in her head, she couldn’t even begin to talk about it yet. Rainbow Dash hadn’t been present at this meeting. She circled Ponyville over and over, lost in her thoughts. Applejack kept flashing through her mind, the blank expression that had become fixed upon her face as the fire was reduced to embers, and the damage to the orchard became apparent. Finally, she flew down and walked slowly up to Twilight’s tree house. She could hear the voices of her friends talking seriously, going over this detail and that detail. But there was one voice she did not hear through the chatter, the only one she would have wanted to. Dash lifted herself up high enough to see everyone, but tried to stay out of sight. Sure enough, Applejack sat amidst the group, her face sullen, saying nothing. “AJ, I’m so sorry,” Rainbow Dash said silently. Days passed, and life went on in Ponyville for almost everyone, as life usually does. Twilight Sparkle was, however, the only pony to see Applejack. She lived quietly inside, moving from one day to the next, but never improving her mood. Everything had come as such a shock to her, she wasn’t sure if she could handle it. Every time one of her friends attempted to come see her, they would be swiftly turned away. For days, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie tried to elicit a more positive response from the orange mare, and each day they were very simply told that she wanted to be left alone. Eventually they decided only time would fix her problems, but never allowed themselves to give up on her. Each day, Rainbow Dash came and checked in on her through the window. Applejack never noticed her, or at least never acknowledged if she did. ‘Why won’t she come out’, Dash asked herself. ‘You destroyed her life’, the voice in her head replied. ‘No, no, no! Accidents happen every day!’ She tried to reason with herself. ‘You were careless and stupid. You being in charge of anything was the accident,’ the voice in her head told her, he mind portraying it as an exceptionally venomous retort. After a long inner battle with herself, Rainbow Dash managed to reach a single conclusion: she would tell Applejack the truth about the fire. It might hurt, and even though it was an accident, it might destroy their friendship, but any reaction was better than seeing Applejack the way she was now. Maybe you should talk to Twilight, she thought to herself. She decided she didn’t need the lecture from Twilight when she was most certainly going to get something from Applejack. Arriving at the library, she could see that Twilight had gone out to fetch some ingredients to aid her in a spell. Dash cautiously nudged open the door, and walked into the darkened library. Applejack was nowhere to be found. She noticed a candle was lit in the room normally occupied by Spike. Moving slowly, Rainbow Dash crept towards the door. Sure enough when she got a look through the crack, Applejack was sitting in her same sorry position on Spike’s bed, staring at the floor. “Uh, Applejack?” Rainbow Dash spoke quietly, hoping Applejack would notice her. Applejack gave a slight nod towards her, and turned away. It made Rainbow Dash wonder why it had affected Applejack so badly, when Big Macintosh hadn’t nearly as much as anypony else. Dash came around the bed, until she was face to face with Applejack. “Listen, Applejack,” she started, but was cut short as Applejack threw herself at Rainbow Dash. Dash was now on her back on the floor while Applejack sobbed on top of her. “What’d we do ta deserve this!” Applejack sobbed. All Rainbow Dash could think to do was wrap her front legs around her friend and let her cry. In the back of Dash’s mind, all she could think about was how much she’d wanted to be able to embrace Applejack, but this was far from how she wanted it to happen. She stroked the length of Applejack’s mane, and tried to get her to calm down. After a few moments, Applejack pulled away, balancing uneasily on her hooves. “Ah’m sorry Rainbow Dash,” she sniffed and wiped some tears from her eyes, “Ah’ve just been holdin’ it in so hard, and Ah I know you understand me the best.” Dash couldn’t help but smile a little, “What’re friends for, AJ?” It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, Dash’s thoughts told her, she’s supposed to be yelling at you, not crying to you. But she is talking…. At that moment, Rainbow Dash was able to calm her mind, and stand up and face Applejack. “Ya think ya’ll could stay with me, just fer a little while?” Applejack asked her. “No problem,” Dash told her, and curled up into the bed with Applejack. They laid awake for hours, Applejack sobbing occasionally, and Rainbow Dash would try her best to calm her down again. Applejack had never felt happier to have her best friend alongside her. She’d never needed someone so badly. “Applejack, how is it Big Macintosh has stayed so calm through all of this?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I mean, Granny Smith may not be there all the time, and Applebloom seemed happy enough to be staying with her friend, but none of them seemed to be so affected.” “Ya gotta understand ma big brother,” Applejack told her, “He’ll do anything ta make sure the family’s ok. He’s a strong one, he has ta be.” Applejack looked down again, tears returning to her eyes. “Why can’t Ah be so strong. Why can’t Ah just pretend its all going to go away.” Dash sat up, and put on the most stern face she could. “You can’t do that because you can’t lie to yourself, or anyone else. You’re the element of honesty, and if that comes with seeing the reality of things, than that’s perfectly fine. It’s who you are Applejack, and I lo---,” she topped. “Ya what?” Applejack had seen her expression change as she tried to make up something else to say. Now it was Applejack’s turn to give the stern look. “I also know when yer lying, Rainbow Dash, now come on, come out with it.” Rather than finishing her statement, Dash leaned in and kissed Applejack on the lips. Applejack’s surprise didn’t last long, and she embraced her friend in the kiss. After a moment, Rainbow Dash pulled back. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh,” she sputtered, “I’m sorry Applejack, it just happened, I-“ she was cut off as Applejack put a hoof to her face. “Don’t go apologizin’ sugercube,” she said and smiled, and gave Dash another kiss. Moments before this, Twilight Sparkle had returned home from Zecora’s place. She wanted to check on Applejack before she began her studies. She quietly nudged open Applejack’s door, and saw the two ponies locked in a passionate kiss. Twilight gave a small smirk, and backed out before she was seen. Days went by where all of Rainbow Dash’s time was spent with Applejack. No matter how hard Rainbow pushed however, Applejack did not want to leave the solitude of the library. Finally, two weeks to the day that the fire had happened, Twilight decided it was time to step in. Rainbow Dash knocked on the door early that morning, and was confronted with a stern looking Twilight. “Eh, hey Twilight. Something on your mind?” Rainbow asked, seeing her expression. “Rainbow, look, I’ve been so glad to be able to help out Applejack in her time of need, and I still want to help her. But…she needs to get out and face her problems. She’s been in that room for a while now, and I know I’ve seen Macintosh over at the orchard, at least trying to clean things up a little. She needs to go out.” “ Twi, I’ve tried. I ask her every day, and every day she says she just can’t bear to see what’s left out there. If she won’t do it for me, I don’t think she’ll do it for anypony.” “Well, we’ve got to try. I know you’ve been helping her a lot Rainbow Dash, but its not healthy for her to mope indoors all day. And our friends miss her too,” Twilight tried to stay optimistic. “Yeah, and I’d like my room back sometime this century,” Spike butted in. The two ponies shot Spike menacing looks for his attempt at humor. “Sheesh, I just wouldn’t mind not having to sleep near Twilight for much longer. You know she performs magic in her sleep sometimes,” he said and walked off, making an obvious gesture to his tail, which was covered in pink polka dots. Twilight gave an apologetic smile, and then reminded herself of the task at hand. “Rainbow, if not for the farm, convince her that her family needs her. Granny Smith seems fine, but such stress at her age is worrisome, and Big Mac can’t do all that work himself. Not to mention Applejack’s support would benefit Applebloom much more than anyone elses, plus she’s starting to drive Rarity mad.” Rainbow Dash thought of Rarity, fabric strewn across her dress shop, confetti raining down over her as Applebloom and her friends explored every nook and cranny for anything interesting. Rainbow snickered at the thought. “I’ll see what I can do Twilight, but I can’t make any promises. And besides, I’m trying to be pretty gentle with her. She finally understands how I feel and I don’t want—“ Dash stopped, realizing she may be speaking of things that Applejack didn’t want her friends to know about. Twilight held out her hoof out and placed it on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, and gave a small smile, “It’s fine Rainbow, I know.” After leaving Twilight to her studies, Rainbow Dash went on ahead into the room where Applejack was staying. At the sight of her friend, Applejack brightened immensely. Rainbow trotted towards her, and they embraced in a long, passionate kiss. “Ya’ll was a little late today,” Applejack teased, “Weren’t out humorin’ some other mare, were ya?” “Of course not,” Dash said pridefully, “But ah, Applejack, I think we need to talk.” Applejack’s face fell when she heard it. She could already guess what Rainbow Dash was going to ask her. “Come outside, AJ. Everypony misses you a lot, you’re Ponyville’s hero after all. You gotta come out and face everything.” “Ah ain’t doin’ nothin’ of the sort, Rainbow Dash,” she said sternly, “Ah’m just not ready fer that. It’s too soon,” she tried to tell her. “Then don’t face it yet, but come outside. Let me take you somewhere, somewhere where we can be alone AJ, really alone. We won’t have to worry about Twilight peeking in or anyone else dropping by. And when you are ready, then we’ll come back and face this together,” Rainbow Dash’s ruby eyes were bright and honest as she spoke, giving Applejack a comforting feeling. “We—well uh, uh, uh, alright then. Jus’ give me a couple’o minutes ta compose m’self,” Applejack stammered. “I’m gonna go talk to Twilight until you are ready,” Dash said as she headed for the door, “Take your time. I’m not in a rush…for once.” Before Dash could exit, Applejack called back out to her. “Rainbow,” she said, visibly shaking. “Huh, what’s wrong?” Rainbow came back over to where she was standing. Before anything else was said, Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash into a warm embrace, and gave her the best kiss Rainbow Dash had ever experienced. “Ah…ah love you Dash,” Applejack whispered into her ear, and then nuzzled her neck. Dash was suddenly swirling with emotions. Her guilt over everything flooded back for a mere moment, but was quickly replaced with something much more. It was the words she’d always dreamed to hear from Applejack, and while truly a lot of what she had imagined had come true in these past two weeks, it defined everything for her. Happiness overtook her, and she squeezed Applejack tightly with her hooves. Rainbow Dash pulled her head back so that she was staring directly into Applejack’s eyes. “I love you too.” Standing on the outskirts of town, Applejack looked down from a hill across all of Ponyville. Except for her brief time in Manehatten, this was where her life had been. If she’d looked just a little further to her right, she could have glimpsed Celestia’s sun gleaming off the few apple trees left at Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow Dash had headed up to her cloud home to get a few things for their trip. She had been gone a while, which made Applejack think she was packing for a long stay away from Ponyville. Deep inside, she knew she did not want to leave everything behind, especially her family. She thought of Granny Smith, who could likely leave Equestria at any time; of Big Macintosh, who she was sure couldn’t run everything by himself forever; and she thought of Applebloom, who’d been almost as much a daughter to her as she had been a little sister. Maybe ah don’t need this, she thought to herself, and forced her gaze towards what remained of the orchard. She couldn’t see much of the damage, but it was enough to make the tears creep back into her eyes. She dropped down onto the hard Earth and just laid there for several moments as her emotions once again caught up to her. “Ah don’t care what Rainbow Dash says,” she sobbed, “If’n there’s one person ah wish I could lie ta, It’d be me.” Applejack raised her head and looked into the beautiful blue sky over Ponyville. She wiped the tears away from her face with her hoof, and let herself get lost in thought. She could feel the breeze blowing across the back of her mane, and thought about all the days like this she’d experienced growing up there. She looked down and watched the breeze part the green grass, cutting a path all the way into Ponyville. She couldn’t imagine that she’d find anything better anywhere else. And that was when the realization hit her: she didn’t need to be anywhere else. Applejack stood up, feeling stronger than ever. She’d cried enough over the past weeks, and she was sure she couldn’t possibly cry anymore. She’d never liked the idea of running from anything, and she couldn’t imagine what the Apple Family would have thought of her for doing it, let alone her friends. When Twilight Sparkle came into her life, things around her had only gotten better. She realized she’d miss going to Pinkie Pie’s signature parties, or aiding in the winter wrap-up. She couldn’t imagine never again saving timid Fluttershy from a cricket that was a little too aggressive, and she even realized she’d miss occasionally modeling for Rarity. To top it all off, Ponyville introduced her to her best friend, and the Pony she now loved most in the world. For the first time in weeks without Rainbow Dash around, Applejack smiled to the world, ready to face whatever challenges laid ahead. She could hear the sound of somepony getting closer to her now, and she couldn’t wait to give the good news. Soon, an exhausted Rainbow Dash landed next to her, with saddle bags filled to the brim of Dash’s important belongings. “So….heavy,” Dash wheezed. Applejack laughed and smiled big, surprising Rainbow Dash. “Forget it sugarcube, we’re staying in Ponyville!” she exclaimed. Dash managed a huge grin, glad that Applejack had changed her mind. Her mood quickly returned to despair when she realized she had to return everything she was carrying. Dash started to fly back up to take everything back, when Applejack yanked her back down out of the sky. With Dash once again under Applejack, like that first night that now seemed so long ago to Rainbow Dash, they locked lips more passionately than they had ever done so before. Rainbow could sense the change in Applejack, her more dominating presence taking hold versus the frightened filly she had come off as before. Truly now, the dreams Rainbow Dash had had for several years now were finally coming true.
My Old Apple Acre Home Redux Chapter 1My Old Apple Acre Home Redux Chapter 1 (Author’s Note: So, although I got some generally good reception out of the original version of this story, I feel like there was a lot of things I could have done better. Grammar mistakes and such aside, I know some readers weren’t happy with the ending, some had trouble getting through it due to typos and such, and I’m sure there were some that didn’t enjoy the story. But for everyone who did, I present a retelling, and its not a fixed copy/paste job, I’m rewriting this from the ground up, and may take the story in a different directions, depending on how I feel when I get to certain plot points. I want opinions based on this first chapter if anyone thinks I should keep going, or leave things as they are. Enjoy!.) My Old Apple Acre Home Redux It was a peaceful morning as the sun rose over the apple orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. The line of sunlight crept across the ground, tracing the shapes of each and every tree as the dawn swept forward, beginning the new day. The light quickly snaked its way up the side of the farmhouse, and soon yellow rays of Celestia’s morning sun were showering the still sleeping face of Applejack through the cracks in her shutters. Slowly her eyes fluttered, and with a yawn the orange earth pony pulled herself out of bed. Still a bit groggy, she trotted over to the window and nudged the shutters open with a hoof. The bright sun made her wince only for a second, and soon her eyes adjusted to the sight of the apple trees, still dripping with the morning dew. It was as beautiful as the lights ponies often strung up during the Hearth’s Warming Celebration. “G’mornin’ Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack smiled and sighed. What Applejack didn’t know was this perfect morning, had been meticulously set up by Rainbow Dash. She knew these mornings were the best for Applejack, so she’d decided to pick days and get out early for her friend. Dash wasn’t much of a morning pony; however, and despite the fact she’d wanted to stay awake and see Applejack’s bright green eyes shimmering in the morning light, Rainbow had landed on the single cloud currently overhead and fallen fast asleep. She tossed and turned as dreams ran about through her head, and before long, without ever realizing it, she plummeted from her cloud bed towards the farmhouse below. She landed with a crash headfirst on the hardwood roof. “What in tar-Rainbow Dash! Looks like yer hard head dented mah roof!” Applejack said, at first surprised but soon smirking as the light blue pony collected herself. “Ouch!” Dash whimpered as she rubbed her head through her mane. “Uh, hey AJ. Mind if I come in?” “Why sure Rainbow. Besides, ain’t often Ah see ya out this early.” “Well, it was just such a beautiful morning, and I thought-“ Dash was cut off by an orange hoof to her mouth. “That you’d make it even more beautiful by getting’ up before mornin’. Dash blushed and took a step back, feeling a little embarrassed. “Ah, come on now sugar cube, what’s the occasion?” Dash trotted over to the wall, and with a hoof pointed to the day. “It’s the day we met, remember AJ?” “O’ course Ah do. It was terrible!” Applejack couldn’t hold back giggling, and soon Dash was too. After a few minutes, and a lot of laughs, Applejack embraced Dash in a hug. Dash could feel her face getting warm as she began to blush. “Thank ya Rainbow Dash. It, it means a lot ta me,” AJ said sweetly before releasing Dash from her embrace. Applejack walked back to the window, glancing out at the ripe red apples. Below, Big Macintosh had already gotten out and begun to buck the first trees. The official start of Applebuck Season was still a couple weeks away, but with some tips gathered from all over Equestria courtesy of Twilight Sparkle, many of the trees were already ready to be picked. With another sigh, AJ turned to her dresser near her bed, and picked her brown Stetson from it’s resting place. With a toss she had it over her blonde mane, and was ready to start work for the morning. “Well Rainbow, Ah’ve gotta-“ Applejack stopped and a thin smile crossed her lips. Rainbow Dash was now curled on the floor near the wall, exhaustion having finally gotten the best of her again. AJ nudged Dash awake again, and slowly walked the barely conscious pony to her bed. “It may not be as comfy as a cloud, but Ah think ya’ll can get some rest here,” she said before tucking the blue Pegasus in. Dash was gone to the world again in a matter of seconds. Gently, Applejack trotted out of the room, and with a hoof pulled the door shut. She headed downstairs, past Granny Smith’s antique clock that read 7:00 a.m., and out into the bright morning air. It was the clock striking ten that finally woke the rainbow-maned Pegasus from her slumber. “Five… more… minutes…”she muttered, her eyes still heavy as she tried to roll over and go back to sleep. She inhaled deeply, catching the scent of apples on the pillow. Applejack’s scent. Suddenly, Dash didn’t want to sleep anymore, she wanted to think about Applejack, to go out and append the day doing whatever Applejack wanted to. “If only I didn’t have that stupid weather team meeting today…” she moaned. Dash’s eyes shot open at the realization. The weather team was supposed to meet that morning at ten, and she hadn’t bothered to count the number of chimes that woke her. “Buck!” Dash cried, rolling out of bed and onto the hard floor. She didn’t bother straightening her mane or brushing down her feathers, and rushed through the bedroom door, down the stairs, and out the front. In no time she was soaring over the apple trees towards Ponyville. Below, Big Mac was bucking apples into several baskets around him. Fluttershy peeked her head from around one of the trees nearby, directing her animal friends to pick up the apples that didn’t make the baskets. Granny Smith sat by the barn, talking to no one in particular. Dash could also see Applebloom and her friends talking around a stump outside their clubhouse. She was sure the fillies were probably drawing up more plans to try to get their cutie marks. She didn’t see Applejack however, but since it wasn’t uncommon for the earth mare to take a load of apples into town, her whereabouts didn’t stay too long on her mind. As she headed into town, Dash had time to think about things in her life. She liked being the type of pony who made decisions on the fly, it was part of being the coolest pony in town. Things had changed when she’d first realized her feelings for Applejack. It wasn’t an instant realization for her, but eventually it had become clear. She’d started getting fluttery feelings in her stomach around AJ, and at night her she dreamed of the romance they might share. It had made her want to impress Applejack, to make her as happy as she could. Dash hadn’t hinted at her desires to her friend however, and despite all the things dash had been trying to do lately, she was pretty sure Applejack hadn’t caught on. In all honesty, Dash was afraid. Applejack was still a simple country pony in a small town like Ponyville, and Dash knew too well that some ponies had no trouble voicing their displeasure with what they called fillyfoolers. Dash hated the word. Applejack hadn’t ever shown disdain towards anypony that didn’t deserve it, but Rainbow still couldn’t bear to hurt their friendship. So she cherished every moment she could be close to Applejack. Dash landed swiftly moments later in front of Sugarcube Corner, and started for the town square where the weather team was supposed to be waiting for her. Within two steps, Dash had nearly every one of her senses assaulted by Pinkie Pie, who burst from one of the windows on the bakery. “Rainbow Dash! Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood morning! It feels like so long since I last saw you Dashie, which was actually just yesterday but that was like, ten hours ago, and ten hours seems like a long time, but it really isn’t if you go to sleep which I did and then I woke up and then it was like ten hours later and now I’m seeing you again!” Pinkie rattled on and on. “Uh, nice to see you again too Pinkie Pie, but I’m running a little late for something.” “Ooooooooooook Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said, then continued to stand in front of her friend. “Pinkie?” “Yes, Rainbow Dash?” “I, I kinda gotta go that way.” “Yep, you sure do!” Pinkie exclaimed, and stood still. “Well I’m gonna go now Pinkie Pie. Take it easy, ok?” Dash said, now a little uneasy. “I sure will Dashie! Oh, and if you’re looking for Applejack, she’s selling apples by market!” Pinkie yelled and dashed back towards Sugarcube Corner. “I didn’t ask, Pinkie!” Dash yelled after her. “I know you didn’t!” Pinkie yelled back with a huge grin, before disappearing into the shop. “I’ll never understand that pony,” Dash muttered, while feeling quite bemused by Pinkie. When she finally got to the town square, it was nearly 10:45. There she found three Pegasi, not even half of her normal weather team. “Where is everyone?” she asked the purple Pegasus Cloudchaser. “Guess they all had better things to do when you didn’t show on time. You’re lucky my beauty appointments aren’t till this afternoon. Where’ve you been anyway? Way your mane looks, I’d say crashing into things as usual.” “Hehe, Rainbow Crash!”shouted the giant white buff Pegasus next to Cloudchaser. Dash snorted and held herself back from doing anything too rash. She turned to the third pony. “Derpy… you know what, everybody go on home. We’re not planning rain until next week, so I’ll plan for another meeting later. Sorry for wasting your time.” “Yeeeeeaaaahhhh!” the buff Pegasus shouted before taking to the sky. Cloudchaser said nothing, instead flipping her pale mane over her side and trotting off. “Yes sir ma’am team leader Rainbow Dash!” Derpy said enthusiastically, before whipping a mail carrier’s hat from the bag she carried with her, and beginning her other job. Once she was alone, Rainbow sighed, and with a few flaps of her wings took to the air again. The only thing on her mind was Applejack, and she decided she should head to the market and see what Applejack was up to. In the market area, Dash found Applejack with her usual apple cart, which was loaded down with all sorts of treats the Apple Family had been able to whip up with the advent of the early harvest. She hovered above, watching intently when a crash drew her attention. She turned from gazing at the mare she so desperately wanted, trying to find the source of the noise. She waited until she heard another crash, and tried to hone in on what was causing it. Not far from the market she could see three colts, all Pegasi and a few years older than Applebloom and her friends, hopping up and down on something. Another crash told Dash exactly what it was. She gave a few good flaps and then dove fast toward the young ponies. She sped faster and faster down, then pulled up, opening her wings and skidding to a stop inches from the ground. Dust kicked up and the air gust nearly blew the colts back. “Eh, what’s this all about?” one of the colts stomped his hooves in the dirt, trying to act tough. “Well I’d say it’s about three ponies playing with a thunderhead that shouldn’t be,” Dash smirked as she spoke. “Yeah, so? We’re, uh, learning so we can be on the weather team some day,” a brown Pegasus lied. “And so we can do this!” said a green one, who jumped on the black cloud, which sent a blast of lightning skimming past Rainbow Dash, and slamming a hole through the wall of some unsuspecting pony’s home. Dash had managed to keep her cool, despite being nearly blasted. She blew a bit of her mane out of her eyes, and puffed her chest out so she looked more like a pony of authority. “Well, I give you guys an A for effort, but as captain of the weather team, you wouldn’t last a second on the job. Besides, even for a storm cloud your construction is terrible. See those sparks it keeps giving off? It’s extremely unstable. I’m sure your mothers would all be very proud you can work with clouds, but I’d bet they’d also appreciate if you didn’t get your faces blown off.” “Hmph, whatever. This wasn’t that much fun anyway! Come on guys, lets go buck around in Cloudsdale,” the third Pegasus, a blue one, said; the sound of disdain in his voice was evident. Dash was left alone with the black cloud , which sparked and sizzled, and even sent tiny bolts of lightning which singed the grass around her hooves. Carefully, Dash moved the cloud up into the air. She wanted it away from anypony else in case it breaking it down didn’t go as she hoped. Again she was now over the market square, and could see Applejack still at the stand. What caught Dash’s attention however, was the big stallion that had stopped at the stand. Dash knew his name was Meadowsong, and plenty of the mares in town had swooned over him at one time or another. Even from where she was, she could tell he wasn’t looking over the apples. She couldn’t hear anything being said, but the more the stallion talked, the more Applejack would blush and rub a hoof over her other leg. Eventually, Meadowsong moved close to AJ, whispering something into her ear. Applejack seemed to giggle, her face maintaining the bright red, and before Meadowsong pulled way, he planted a light kiss on one of AJ’s cheeks. Dash couldn’t help but be furious. “Are you kidding me,” Dash spoke through gritted teeth. “He can have any mare he wants in Ponyville, and that’s the one he decides to try and get his hooves on. Arragh!” With her frustrated cry, she bucked recklessly in the air. Her back hooves connected with the thunderhead, which gave a crash that startled several ponies below, including Applejack. The buck sent the thunderhead spiraling away from Ponyville, sparking and crackling. Dash watched it soar, at first ready to chase it, but seeing as it was leaving the town, she decided it didn’t matter. Her mind was filled with the burning to desire to swoop down and give Meadowsong a good kick in the flank, but she decided that Applejack wasn’t anything more than a friend to her right now, so any misplaced aggression would only serve to make her look terrible. Still, she needed to blow off some steam, so she raced off towards the library. If anyone could help, she was sure it was Twilight. “So you’re…jealous, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked after eharing Dash’s story. “Huh, me? Of Applejack? She’s a mare Twilight, why would I be jealous?” “Well actually I was talking about being jealous of Meadowsong being attracted to Applejack and not you, but it sure sounds like you’re jealous of somebody,” Twilight lowered the glasses she was wearing and closed the books she had lying all over her table. “Are you afraid if AJ gets together with somepony, that she won’t have time for you guys to spend time together?” “Well, yeah. I mean, sort of, but it's complicated. Well, no it isn’t but, I’m not very good at talking about this kind of stuff Twilight.” “Well you know, I’m always here Rainbow, and I wouldn’t mind trying to talk through stuff with you. We don’t ever spend much time together by ourselves, you know. I’d… like that,” Twilight told her, a slight blush crossing her face that Dash failed to notice. Dash nodded, not giving her full attention to Twilight. The purple unicorn had helped, and Dash was never one to open up to many ponies about her feelings. Still, without the whole story Twi could only do so much, and Dash’s heart was already sure of what she needed to do: talk to Applejack, and put everything out in the open. Dash looked up at the still slightly red-faced, but now silent unicorn. “Well, thanks Twilight. I think I’ve got some things to take care of. But maybe we can hang out later, or something.” Dash closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her head with one of her forelegs. Twilight only nodded, and watched as the rainbow-maned Pegasus got up from her spot at Twi’s table. Before she could, the library door burst open, and Rarity and Fluttershy quickly made their way inside. Both looked rather panicked. “Girls, is something wrong?” Twi asked. “Rainbow Dash, thank Celestia you’re here! Weather team, water, help, now!” Rarity screamed at Rainbow Dash. “Huh, what?” dash was taken aback. “RainbowDashThere’sAFireAtSweetAppleAcresAndWeNeedHelpNowWillYouHelpPlease!” Fluttershy rattled out fearfully, tears streaming from her eyes. “Did you say fire? At Sweet Apple Acres?! I‘m on it!” Dash sped out the door without another word. Dash soared back over Ponyville, stopping for only one moment when she saw Derpy. She quickly glided down to the wall-eyed mare. “Derpy, I need your help, please listen. Sweet Apple Acres, something is going on, I think it is one fire. I need you to round up as many members of the weather team as you can and bring rain clouds. Please Derpy, as fast as you can!” “Yes ma’am!” Derpy saluted and gave one of the most serious looks Dash had ever seen from the grey mare. Not wanting to waste any more time, Rainbow took to the air again, pushing herself to near-Rainboom speeds, hoping Applejack hadn’t returned to the farm yet. When she arrived, the farm was in total chaos. Hundreds of apple trees were ignited in bright torrents of flame. One of the trees had crashed into the barn, setting it ablaze. The flames were creeping closer and closer to the farmhouse. On the outskirts of the farm, Dash could see Granny Smith and Big Macintosh huddled close, unable to do anything now that the fire had spread so out of control. Several of the farm animals, the pigs, the cows, and the chickens were gathered near them, though it looked like many of the animals hadn’t made it out. A small group of woodland creatures were gathered as well, with Angel-Bunny in the center. Dash assumed Fluttershy had gotten him to round up as many of the animals that lived in the orchard as he could. A moment later, her other friends, Applejack included were headed as fast as they could up the path to the farm. Dash let out a small sigh of relief. Then she heard the sound that chilled her to the bone. Boom! It was all too familiar, and quickly Dash was speeding through the rising smoke. Her fears were proven too when she reached just above the farmhouse, and there floating listlessly, spewing forth bolts of lightning and crackling with thunder was the thunderhead from earlier. “This…this is my fault….” Dash realized, her eyes wide. She shot forward quickly, hooves outstretched to take down the cloud. With amazing force, Dash reared above the cloud, and smashed down with her front hooves. The cloud broke apart with a blast, send Dash crashing to the ground near the farmhouse. She looked up weakly, surrounded by the bright orange heat. The smoke began to fill her lungs, and she coughed and sputtered . Her head began to spin and slowly she passed into unconsciousness. Her last thought was how sorry she was, that she’d just ruined Applejack’s life, and was now about to lose hers. The rest of the ponies arrived soon after Dash, and stood around the outskirts of the farm. Applejack stood in near hysterics, while the ever solemn Big Macintosh let a number of silent tears run down his cheeks. Fluttershy snuck up next to the red stallion and wrapped a leg around one of his. Granny Smith hobbled over to Applejack. “It’ll be ok dearie, the Apple family has gotten through tough times before,” she spoke, trying to comfort her granddaughter. “And don’t worry about Applebloom, she and her friends were playing at my shop before any of this happened,” Rarity told her. Applejack shook all over, unable to speak or move. Her life was burning away before her eyes. A loud boom shook nearly all the ponies, but AJ remained frozen to her spot. That is, until she heard a familiar sound. Barking, coming from somewhere within the blaze. “Winona!” Applejack suddenly cried out, “Did anyone get Winona?” Mac and Granny Smith both glanced at one another, and shook their heads. “S-s-s-she’s still i-in there!” Applejack sputtered through her tears. “Ah’ve gotta go get her!” Before the other ponies could stop her, Applejack rushed forward into the fire. Before anypony could stop her, she disappeared into the roaring flames. Doing her best to ignore the scorching heat, Applejack galloped up the winding path to the farmhouse. “Winona! Here girl!” she shouted as she approached. A familiar blue form caught her eye as she got closer. She gasped when she saw Rainbow Dash, unconscious in front of the house. Winona had come outside, and was lapping at Dash’s face. She whimpered as Applejack approached her friend. “Dash, wake up! Ya’ll can’t be sleepin’ now! Rainbow Dash, please wake up!” she held back tears and shouted at the downed Pegasus. Knowing what she had to do, Applejack straightened her hat and lifted Dash onto her back. She whistled for Winona, and picked the small dog up by the scruff of her neck with her teeth. Applejack looked around at the trees charring, beginning to crumble all along the path back. A loud creaking behind her only served to get her moving faster. The farmhouse behind her had caught fire, and once much of the house had started to burn, supports failed, load bearing beams had burned, and the house was now seconds away from crashing into the earth. AJ looked around hopelessly. In the flames, she thought she could see faces, laughing at her, mocking her. They were like demons, they were like the villains she and her friends had defeated in the past, finally getting some sort of revenge against her. They wanted to see her suffer, wanted to see her burn. She stamped a hoof in the dry dirt, and readied herself to run. Feeling the extra weight on her back, she wasn’t so sure she could. On her own she was fast, and had no trouble racing through the flames. Winona wasn’t a problem, but she was beginning to fear that at least one of them would end up hurt, or worse, by having to carry Dash. She wasn’t about to leave her friend. “Ah’m sorry Dash…Ah ain’t sure Ah can get us outta here,” AJ said softly. And then the raindrops hit her. At first only a few speckled her singed orange coat, but quickly it escalated into a torrent of rain, which quickly calmed the fire in her path. Thankful for the miracle, Applejack hurried as fast as she could to get them away. Briefly looking up, she saw several Pegasi from the Ponyville’s weather team streaking across the sky, rain clouds in hoof, building a wall of clouds to douse the fire. Most surprising of all, Derpy seemed to be leading the charge. Behind her, the sound of splintering wood grew to a roar, as the farmhouse collapsed to the ground. Applejack didn’t look as she joined her friends. She knew all too well that the farmhouse had suddenly become very much like her life, falling down around her.
