Chapters The warm, golden rays of the morning sun streamed through the clear glaze of the farmhouse window, falling softly onto the green, apple-decorated bed linen and the comfortable sleeping pony beneath. Dust motes glinted and floated lazily in the shaft of light, disturbed only by the faintest of breezes that carried forth the fresh, crisp scent of early spring. Outside, birds chirruped happily, but within the quiet room the only sound was of soft, gentle breathing and the faint rustling of bedclothes as Applejack, cosy and peaceful, reluctantly left sleep behind and returned to the world once more.
A faint, contented smile fell upon her lips as she slowly woke. She instinctively stretched her legs, back and neck, and made a protracted, undignified noise somewhere between a moan and a grunt, noting in the meantime that there was something wrong with the way her hindlegs were moving. Sluggish, as though some heavy, warm weight were pressing on them. Her smile grew as she relaxed from her stretch, and only then did she slowly open her eyes.
The sun was well up and she'd missed the rooster crow, which made her smile a little more. The cold morning breeze wafting faintly through her slightly-open window suggested that, while winter had officially been over for a week now, spring was still having a little trouble making itself heard. She pulled her thick, warm covers up a little higher, cosied down, and seriously considered rolling over and having another hour in bed.
Why not? Today she could, so why shouldn't she? There were no chores for her to do. No errands to run. Winter Wrap Up was well over and harvest season was safely on the far side of the year. She had no obligations and no plans, and that was just how she liked it when her days off occasionally rolled around.
But, much as she liked the thought, she couldn't just roll over and go back to sleep. Partly because her days off were too precious to waste. And partly because she couldn't roll over. Not without disturbing the soft, warm weight still resting on her hindlegs somewhere down towards the foot of the bed. With great effort, she raised her head, craned her neck... and was met with a familiar sight.
"Mornin', Winona," said Applejack blearily, watching the sleeping canine's ears instinctively perk. Her faithful companion was curled up at the bottom of the bed, and now she woke slowly and yawned. Then, with an energy possessed only by border-collies – and certain pink party ponies – Winona was up on her paws and leaping for her, tail wagging and making to lick her face. "Winona!" Applejack cried, laughing as she tried fruitlessly to keep the sloppy tongue from her cheeks. "You know ya ain't supposed to sleep on the bed. Come on, get down." Gently, Applejack pushed her down onto the floor. Despite the rebuke – if that's really what it was – Winona looked back up at Applejack, panting happily, tail still wagging, and unsure whether she wanted to sit, stand, or run around like a mad thing.
Applejack smiled down at her. It was funny. They didn't speak the same language, but Applejack always knew exactly what she was saying.
Hooray! You're awake! Let's go play! Come on! Let's go play, Applejack!
"Okay girl, hold yer horses, I'm comin'," said Applejack, finally finding the courage to leave the covers. She dropped down from the bed onto her hooves and gave Winona a friendly scratch behind the ears. Then she reached for the red mane and tail bands on her nightstand, her hooves working with practised ease to secure them in place. As she tied her mane back, she noticed that the chirping birds from outside had almost completely stopped, and instead the pleasant natural ambience had been replaced by another noise.
It sounded like a voice. A staccato three-syllable call coming from somewhere outside, and as Applejack swiveled and strained her ears, she finally made out the words.
"Rain-Bow-Dash! Rain-Bow-Dash! Rain-Bow-Dash! Thank-you, thank-you!" followed by a loud, guttural throat-noise that was clearly designed to imitate an applause, and did so poorly.
Applejack approached her bedroom window and looked down. Below her, in the space near the front of the farmhouse, and in full view, Rainbow Dash stood behind a rectangular fold-away table covered in a white table-cloth and upon which was resting a traditional silver serving platter, covered by a classic domed lid. Dash herself was strutting, bowing and preening to nopony at all, and then she began once more cheering herself on. For an instant she looked up and made eye-contact with Applejack and for a moment her smile seemed to brighten – though it was so fleeting Applejack wasn't sure she'd seen it right. Then Dash was back posing as though she hadn't even noticed her.
"Come on, Winona," said Applejack with her own smile, retrieving her Stetson from its hook on the wall and casually flipping it atop her head. "Let's go see what this is all about."
There was a reason she never made plans for her days off. Some meddling pegasus usually dictated exactly how she'd be spending her time.
* * *
No sooner had the front door opened than Winona was out like a shot, sprinting furiously towards the suddenly-surprised pegasus and her table of mystery.
Applejack, it's Rainbow Dash! Look Applejack, Rainbow Dash! I love it when we play with Rainbow Dash! Can we play with Rainbow Dash? Come on Applejack, let's play with Rainbow Dash!
Walking slowly from the farmhouse, Applejack watched as Winona stopped at Dash's hooves and began jumping up, trying to lick her face, bursting with energy. Of all her friends, for some reason, Dash was always the one that got Winona the most excited when she came by the farm.
Look, Rainbow Dash! I brought Applejack! Let's play together!
The outside air was fresh and cold, and a thin mist lay low over the grass of the nearby orchard, mingling between the apple trees and giving the dew-covered fields a peaceful, ethereal appearance. Over the hard packed earth near the farmhouse where Rainbow had set her table up though, the pleasant sunshine had already had a chance to burn the mist away and the ground itself was nicely warm underhoof.
Applejack reached the table and stopped, standing on the opposite side of it from Rainbow Dash who was suddenly very distracted.
"Winona, come on! Cut it out!" she laughed, giving the dog some fuss but still utterly failing to keep the slobbering tongue from her face. Then, Winona raced away to the grass border with the orchard, to beneath one of the nearest apple-trees, and returned with a short, thick stick clutched in her mouth. She dropped it at Dash's hooves and looked up hopefully.
"Oh," said Dash with a playful smirk. "You want me to throw the stick?"
Yes please, Rainbow Dash! Throw the stick! Winona's tail wagged furiously and her eyes positively gleamed.
"You want me to throw it really far? " Dash's smile increased.
Yes, please! Throw it really far, Rainbow Dash! I'll find it! I'll bring it back! Then Applejack can throw it and we'll all be playing! Throw it really far, Rainbow Dash!
"Okay. You asked for it."
With a lengthy wind up and a mighty heave, Rainbow Dash hurled the stick skywards in the direction of the orchard. It arced and dropped, becoming nothing more than a speck as it found its way below the treeline with a faint rustle.
Winona was off faster than a stone from a slingshot, sprinting headlong into the trees and the low mist, determined to find the stick and return it. Rainbow Dash clearly needed that stick back, and she wasn't going to let her down!
"She'll be a little while," grinned Dash, finally turning back to the table, and Applejack. "What took you so long? I've been waiting out here forever."
"Mornin' to you too, Dash," said Applejack. She'd meant to meet her gaze with a playful smirk of her own, but instead found herself breaking into a wide yawn as her body tried to rid itself of the last vestiges of a sleep so recently and reluctantly departed. "Kinda early, ain't it?" she asked. For herself, getting out of bed an hour after sunrise was a luxurious lie-in, but by Rainbow Dash's standards, this was crack-of-dawn stuff.
"Not for this," said Dash, her grin growing as she indicated the covered platter on the table. "This is it, Applejack. You and me are finally gonna settle which one of us is the most daring pony in Ponyville! And, I dunno if you heard the crowd earlier, but they're pretty much all cheering for Rainbow Dash."
"Uh huh?" replied Applejack. She raised an eyebrow, but couldn't keep the smallest grin from her face. Applejack didn't know how, but Rainbow Dash walked a magnificent tightrope.
Had any other pony in Equestria come to her door and challenged her to start doing foolish things in the name of proving herself, she'd send them packing right quick. But with Dash, it was just... different somehow. Rainbow had always had a weird way of getting just far enough under her skin to rile her up and get her competitive itch going, but she always stopped just short of saying anything to actually anger or upset her. Applejack-baiting was a skill which seemed to come naturally to Rainbow Dash, almost as though it were instinct, and in the past the workhorse had done some incredibly fool-pony things because of it. She'd loved doing them too... but she'd never admit that.
She liked to think she gave almost as good as she got though. With a glance at the serving dish, she finally found her own smirk. "Yer gonna prove you're the bravest pony round these parts by servin' me breakfast?"
"Hey!" shouted Dash. She put on a scowl. "This is serious business, Applejack. The final showdown. Right here, right now. We're gonna settle this once and for all."
"With silverware?" Applejack lost none of her playfully sarcastic grin.
"With these! " Rainbow retorted, her own grin reforming. She whipped the lid from the serving platter in an obviously-practised flourish to reveal two surprisingly small, innocuous green vegetable-looking things lying side by side.
Applejack looked down, then back up at Rainbow Dash. She suddenly had a pretty bad idea where this was going.
"Peppers?" she inquired.
"Not just any peppers," said Rainbow Dash eagerly. "The hottest peppers in all of Equestria. The guy at the market told me that how hot a pepper is depends on how many Schofields it has, and each one of these babies has about a bajillion in them! They're super-rare. It's taken me a whole month to save up enough for these."
In spite of herself, Applejack's grin grew. She never usually liked to make fun but again, somehow with Dash, it was different. Giving her cocky pegasus friend a hard time was practically an obligation. Someone had to let the air out of her ego every once in a while. What if it inflated too much and just... carried her away forever? It was Applejack's job to keep Dash's hooves on the ground and... well sometimes Dash just made it too easy.
"Wow, Dash. A bajillion Schofields, you say?"
"Yep!" said Dash with a confident grin.
"That sure is a lotta Schofields, Dash," she said, her own grin rising. "Would ya say it's a... plethora of Schofields?"
"Are you kidding? It's like, ten plethoras of Schofields! The guy said there's more Schofields in these peppers than any other peppers in the world!"
"That's amazin'. I ain't never heard of a pepper with so many Schofields in it," said Applejack, leaning across the table closer to Dash. "Ya know why? "
"Uh... n–no?" said Dash, no doubt sensing a trap and her smile suddenly fading uncertainly.
"Cuz there ain't no such thing as a Schofield." Applejack winked triumphantly. "Scovilles , Dash. Pepper heat is measured in Scovilles. And for the record, there ain't no such number as a bajillion either."
Watching Dash go from frustrated to annoyed while trying desperately to find carefree nonchalance was just priceless! Within the space of a moment, Dash had blinked, frowned, ground her teeth, even did a quick double-take at the peppers on the table. Then she was looking back at Applejack. "I knew that! I just... wanted to make sure you knew it."
Applejack laughed. Dash was certifiably the worst liar ever, and she loved that about her. Most ponies who lied, did so because they thought they could get away with it. But she was certain by now that when Dash lied, it was only because she knew she couldn't. Like it was her strange way of admitting she was wrong while at the same time, not appearing to admit anything of the sort.
Dash finally managed to smooth out the dent in her pride, and her gaze was once more with Applejack.
"Anyway. You. Me. Red-hot chilli peppers, and this bucket of water." On cue, Rainbow bent and used her mouth to raise a steel bucket filled with clear water from beneath the table. She set it down to her right, on the very end of the tabletop. "First pony to chicken out and drink the water loses. And the winner – that's me by the way – becomes the official Most Daring Pony of Ponyville! You game?" Her confident smirk was back now, her eager eyes locked with Applejack's.
Applejack felt her competitive itch rising again. There was just something about Dash's confidence, how she carried herself, how she was apparently so certain she was going to win, that made Applejack determined to beat her at whatever challenge she threw down. But today that urge was tempered with a cautious note. "Dash? Have you ever actually eaten a pepper before?"
"Uh, yeah! " said Dash, as though offended. "I mean, I've had 'em on, like, pizza and stuff."
"I ain't talkin' about your regular, run o' the mill peppers like we grow on the farm. I mean a real hot pepper. Cuz all I'm sayin' is... this ain't gonna be as fun as you think."
"Hello? Most daring pony, remember?" Then her face softened. "But... that's okay Applejack," she said in an oddly gentle tone. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I know you must be really... ohmygoshApplejackwhatthehayisthat?!" she cried, pointing her hoof at... the space between Applejack's legs?
Applejack craned her neck downwards, confused. Then looked back up at Dash. "What?"
"Huh? Oh. Nah. Thought I saw something on your stomach there for a sec is all. Like a really wide streak of yellow ."
"What!?" yelled Applejack, incensed. "Are you callin' me a cowar–!"
"It's okay though," Dash continued without breaking stride. "I'm pretty sure it's gone now." The smirk was back in full force as Dash brazenly picked one of the peppers from the dish and held it on her hoof.
Applejack glared at Dash, and even as she automatically scooped the other up. Even as she saw Rainbow pop hers into her mouth... and even as she followed suit... she couldn't help but reflect once more on just how good Dash was at it. She was eating the dang pepper, but she still hadn't been left angry or upset. Only determined to beat that cocky pegasus.
Then it dawned on her that she might just be eating one of the hottest peppers ever grown, and she braced herself for the worst.
It wasn't so bad, actually. A little hot, sure, but nothing like the hottest she'd ever eaten. She chewed and swallowed and watched with a grim satisfaction as Rainbow seemed to struggle to do the same. The pegasus was already showing signs of discomfort, and possibly even regret. Her eyes darted, she shuffled uncomfortably, and then she looked down and began breathing shallow mouth-breaths. A moment later her eyes became fixated on the bucket placed a few short steps away at the end of the table, gazing reverently at it like it was the answer to all her prayers. Then she looked back to Applejack with a frown and resolutely refused to move from the spot. Applejack, for her part, just looked on. It really wasn't so bad...
Her eyes widened.
No. It was bad. It was very, very bad. The heat didn't build, it surged , as though her throat and tongue and sinuses had all run headlong into a wall of fire. Sudden involuntary, thick tears came to her eyes and she began to sweat badly even in spite of the chill. Applejack was breathing shallowly herself now, trying to draw the still-cool morning air into her mouth in the hope of some relief, but it did nothing . Oh, dear sweet Celestia, if she'd eaten the sun it wouldn't be this hot! The whole inside of her mouth burned like she'd gargled acid. Her throat was melting, her tongue was made of flame, and in spite of herself, she found herself slowly edging leftwards, towards the promised relief of the bucket.
Through the tears in her eyes, she saw Dash was already doing the same, almost matching her movements. Then, in seconds, they were both eye-to-eye opposite each other at the end of the table, teeth gritted, the bucket of pure, cool water between them and tantalisingly close.
Applejack's entire world was pain now. Her brain could comprehend nothing but the heat. All of existence was as fire and would be forever more. But as she stared Dash down over the bucket through tear-filled eyes, she refused to give in. Her mind began to shut down, and her whole being became distilled to two thoughts. To make the pain stop, she needed to drink the water. But to beat Dash, she had to wait. She clung to the last vestiges of her resolve to the bitter end until finally her body, entering panic and deciding that her pesky, stubborn consciousness was no longer helping its survival, snapped and handed the reins to instinct instead.
Several things happened at once.
Applejack lunged for the bucket. But instead of the feeling of cool, sweet water on her lips and soothing her mouth, she was rewarded instead with a painful knock as her head collided with Dash's, who had moved at the same exact time. They both recoiled dizzily and stared the other down again for a second of pure agony, each now realising they were on the cusp of winning.
At the same time there was a rapidly approaching scampering as Winona, stick triumphantly in mouth, pelted out of the orchard towards the table, and suddenly had to dodge Rainbow Dash's shifting hooves as she regained her balance after her cranial collision. The agile canine adeptly avoided accidentally being stepped on, but knocked heavily against one of the folding table-legs beneath the bucket as she skidded to a stop.
The flimsy joint broke. The leg collapsed. The table pitched. The bucket fell. The water spilled onto the ground and soaked into the dry earth, turning it instantly to mud.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash screamed in horror.
Rainbow Dash was down on the ground immediately, making to scoop as much of the wet, mushy dirt into her mouth, crying and desperate for relief. But Applejack, watching her friend, knew it would do no good.
She dragged Dash back to her hooves. "Foh-owe me!" she just about managed to say, though her mouth and tongue were numb from the pain. She galloped towards the barn, Rainbow Dash in tow and Winona alongside, enthusiastic and eager to see what this new game was. They reached the rear of the building where a length of coiled hosepipe lay, one end attached to a brass tap on the wall.
Applejack raced to the tap, and Rainbow Dash started to wrestle frantically with the length of hose. Applejack had to apply all of her conscious effort to simply turning the thing on because she could barely even see it, her eyes were watering so badly. Nor could she feel it, as the only sensation her mind was choosing to process was the pain from the furnace in her maw. Finally the tap rotated and she heard the familiar, glorious sound of water rushing forth into the hosepipe.
She turned to look at Dash, who had just about gotten the end untangled as the promised water burst forth. But instead of drinking herself, Dash grabbed the end of the pipe between her forehooves and thrust it desperately toward Applejack.
Applejack opened her mouth, allowing Dash to pour the water in and... oh... it was heavenly. The fire went from a roaring inferno to a subtle smoulder instantly and she nearly collapsed from the relief. Then the water was gone as Rainbow Dash plunged the end of the hose into her own mouth and drank deeply with a look of immense satisfaction. But without the constant, relieving flow of cold liquid the fire began to rise again.
The two friends quietly sat, sharing the hosepipe between them for several wordless minutes, both of them fussing over Winona in the meanwhile. Applejack scratched her behind the ears, and Rainbow Dash rubbed her belly. When the heat in their mouths was finally quenched for good, Applejack gave Winona a much-appreciated drink, and at last shut the water off.
Receiving a quick glance from Dash, she watched as the pegasus stood and stalked away, back over to the fallen table and its new associated debris. Rainbow looked down at it and after a few more moments of silence, she spoke.
"Okay. That... was pretty dumb."
"Eeyup," agreed Applejack, stepping up beside her.
Dash sat and scooped up the silver lid of the serving dish from the ground, turning it over in her hooves. It had fallen from the table onto a small rock, hitting it at just the right angle to give it a large, ugly dent at the top near the handle. "Aw, man. Rarity's gonna kill me," she groaned. She turned the lid this way and that, hoping that the damage was just a trick of the light or something, but no. It was obvious. "She almost wasn't gonna let me borrow this. I promised I'd be super-careful."
"It was just an accident, Dash. She'll come round."
"Totally gonna kill me." Dash sighed and put the lid down. Then her gaze found the fallen bucket and her 'working-things-out' frown appeared.
Applejack noticed her looking, saw her brow furrow, and had a pretty good idea what she was thinking. "Just so we're clear, Rainbow," she said, "You ain't claimin' you won that."
Dash slumped and the frown was replaced by a resigned look. "Nah. I guess not. But... I didn't lose either, so... we tied?"
"Tied," Applejack confirmed with a firm nod.
"Tied. Again. " Then the frown was back, but more resolute now. "Urgh! Everything we do! I mean... how does this keep happening? We tied at the running of the leaves..."
"–For last place , Dash..."
"We tied for Most Daring Pony–"
"I still take issue with some o' the score keepin' on that..."
"We even tied at this, and this was supposed to be the decider! After everything we've done, we still don't know which of us is the fastest! Or the bravest! Or the most..." She trailed off, the thoughtful frown back again. Then she muttered under her breath. "Most daring...?"
Applejack looked at Dash for a moment. "Dash? Is it really that impor–?"
"That's it!" Suddenly Dash was off her hooves and onto her wings, her eyes wide and bright. "Okay, don't move! I'll be right back!" Then she was gone, vanishing into the air in a puff of dust, leaving a faint, multi-coloured contrail behind her.
Applejack watched in surprise as Rainbow abruptly soared into the sky and vanished from sight.
Then, after a moment fruitlessly scanning the skies, looked down and saw the mess she'd left behind...
A half-collapsed table with one corner digging into the dirt; a ruined, soaked white table-cloth, torn where it had somehow snagged on the corner of the table when it fell; an overturned, empty bucket covered in mud; and one of Rarity's finest serving dishes, newly dented and also covered in mud.
"Gee, Rainbow, sure was nice to see ya. And hey, thanks for leavin' all this stuff dumped right here," she muttered as she dutifully began to gather up the debris. She picked up the serving platter first, and sighed. "Guess I get to be the one who tells Rarity about her dish too, huh?"
She took it rather well. There had been the usual melodramatics of course, though for Rarity that was normal.
But without even waiting to hear the specifics, an annoyed Rarity had leaped to her own conclusions about what had happened, and laid the blame squarely on Rainbow Dash. Her promise to be careful with her favourite dish clearly meant nothing, and her inability to keep it was clear evidence of her guilt. And without even thinking, Applejack had gone straight to her defence. "Don't be mad at Dash, Rare. It wasn't her fault. I swear, it was an accident nopony would'a seen comin'." It had taken a little more than that, but Rarity had eventually started to begrudgingly believe her.
But when Rarity had looked hopefully at her and asked – no, begged – Applejack to tell her that Rainbow Dash had at least sent her dish to its demise in the presentation of some spectacular and exquisite feat of unlikely culinary prowess, Applejack, without the heart to disappoint, had looked her square in the eye and without any hint of a lie, had said, "Rarity? It was unforgettable."
Even so, Applejack felt guilty enough on behalf of Dash to give Rarity five bits and point her in the direction of Farrier, the town smith. If anypony could work that dent out of the metal and make it good as new, it'd be him. Then she had bid her friend farewell and left, ruminating on just how much she was enjoying her day off.
So far this morning she'd been put through agony, had to clean up a mess left in her front yard, broken some bad news to a friend, and was five bits out of pocket to boot.
All thanks to Rainbow Dash who was, conspicuously, nowhere to be seen.
Why, exactly, were they friends again?
As though summoned by her thoughts, Rainbow Dash chose that moment to drop from the sky and land in front of her, without introduction and wearing an annoyed frown.
It was uncanny! As though she had a sixth sense to tell her the instant all of the hard work and unpleasant tasks were over, and that it was therefore safe to reappear.
"There you are!" said Rainbow. "I've been looking all over for you. I thought I told you not to move?"
"Dash? You've been gone for an hour ," Applejack shot back. "I can't just sit an' wait for you to decide to turn up again. I've got things to do."
"What things? I thought today was your day off?!"
"It is my day off!" Applejack snapped. "And yet, thanks to some pony, I've already had to fix a broken table, wash and mend a tablecloth, and return Rarity's dish to her explaining why it suddenly looks like the surface of the moon!"
"Uh oh." Dash had the good grace to look embarrassed, and she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly with a hoof. "Uh... does she...? I mean, is she...?"
Applejack sighed and shook her head slightly. "She don't wanna kill ya, Dash. I talked to her. She ain't mad."
She might have expected a 'thank you'. Or an, 'I appreciate it,' would have been nice too. Maybe some token acknowledgment of the trouble she'd gone to to clean up Dash's mess, literally and figuratively. For an instant she thought she might actually get something, but then Dash simply drew a foreleg across her own forehead and gave herself a relieved, "Phew."
Applejack would have been disappointed, if she hadn't come to expect it by now.
"What were you up to, Dash? What was so dang important that you just up and vanished like that?"
"Huh? Oh, right. So I got an idea for another decider from Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams . But I had to go check a few things out before I could make it work for you and me."
Applejack quickly became vexed. Dash had left her in the lurch to go and read a book! One that she'd read a dozen times before!?
Her anger clearly showed, because Dash suddenly looked taken aback. "Whoa, don't get mad. It was all totally for research! The point is I finally know how we're gonna settle once and for all which of us is the fastest, bravest, most athletic, most daring, and overall most awesome pony in town!"
Applejack scowled. Rainbow Dash had already caused her so much aggravation this morning! Why would she want more?! But even as her scowl deepened she realised that back there, behind her sudden surge of annoyance, she reluctantly found curiosity faintly gnawing. Fastest, bravest, most athletic and most daring. All at once? It couldn't hurt to just hear what hair-brained scheme Rainbow would have proposed...
She recognised the signs already, and it still did nothing to help. Rainbow Dash was masterful at it... even if she didn't know it. "Oh you do, huh?"
"Yep. We're gonna have a race," said Dash with a cock-sure grin.
"A race? That's... original."
"Not just any race! We're gonna race to... Witch Mountain!" she said, spreading her wings and leaping into the air, her outstretched forehoof pointing to a tall mountain, far to the south of Ponyville. Then her gaze was back with Applejack, her eyes wide and eager. "It's on the far side of the dark woods south of town. We'll probably have to face terrifying, fierce creatures. Brave our way through dangerous, murky swamps. Tackle narrow, crumbling mountain passes. All obstacles that only the most courageous and daring of ponies can handle. And when we get there, about halfway up, there's Witch Cave. Twilight told me there's a legend that says everypony who's ever entered it... is still in there! " she finished with an excited grin, "So! First pony to touch the back wall of Witch Cave is the winner! Bravest. Fastest. Most Awesome Pony Ever. You in?"
"Dash?" Applejack rolled her eyes. "How's a race up a mountain gonna work? You can fly faster'n I can yell."
"Because I'm not gonna fly," Dash retorted. "No wings, no flying, a hoof-race all the way."
Applejack's suspicious frown returned. "Uh-huh. Do I need to go get my rope?"
"No. Because I'm giving you my special, Rainbow Dash word of honour. Besides, if this is the ultimate, final showdown, then I wanna win fair and square. I'm not gonna have you claiming like I cheated or something. This isn't gonna be another Iron Pony. You still won't let me have that."
She wasn't sure exactly when, but Applejack realised that at some prior point in the conversation she had completely skipped over whether she should participate in what sounded like a risky, half-baked, fool-pony scheme, and had gone straight to the hows and the whats of making sure it was fair. The safety measures employed by her brain to keep her from running off on exactly this kind of ill-thought-through, reckless folly had apparently just been disregarded. Because of Rainbow Dash.
Once she realised this though, her common sense did briefly touch on the notion that this wasn't a good idea. But again, some part of her tried to shoo those reluctant thoughts away. It was just a trip through some woods and up a mountain. Nothing she hadn't done before, and she was an experienced wilderness-goer after all. There weren't likely any real risks out there that she couldn't handle. Dash was probably exaggerating the peril in order to build excitement and hype up the race in her own mind, and even if she weren't... they'd both seen and survived real danger before. At the end of the day they were friends. Race or no race, they wouldn't really let anything happen to each other, and this she knew to be true above all else.
Suddenly, it sounded like fun. She could picture it as being an adventure with Dash first and a race against her second. The only sour note came when she tried to imagine that Rainbow might want to see it the same way... and realised she probably wouldn't. Dash was all about the winning. Applejack preferred the taking part. But taking part in a friendly race with Rainbow Dash? That sounded like a real nice way to spend a day off.
"Okay, Rainbow. You're on."
* * *
It began simply, with three easy words used to start races since time immemorial.
"Ready, steady, go!"
They ran.
They ran from the fountain in the square to the edge of town. They ran over the bridge, crossed the stream, and forged into the wilderness beyond.
They ran carefree and giddy from Ponyville, the cool breeze in their manes and the warm morning sunlight on their backs. They ran free over the wild, unkempt meadows of the valley, the wildflowers in full bloom and the long, soft spring grass under their hooves. They ran with determined grins, laughing now, trading good-natured barbs and competitive banter. They ran, leaving the town they both called home far behind, heading always south towards Witch Mountain.
They ran from the mundane and the familiar into the tempting unknown.
They ran side by side. They ran together.
They ran.
Applejack had almost forgotten what it was like to just run . To feel free . She enjoyed working on the farm, but it was work at the end of it all. There were days when it seemed that was all she ever did. All she was ever good for. And then there were the days like today. When she could run, just for the thrill of it. She could run anywhere. She could run forever if she wanted. She was free. She ran.
She stole a quick sidelong glance at Dash running beside her, matching her stride for stride. Running with a friend was so much better than running alone.
They could both run forever if they wanted.
Rainbow Dash caught her looking. "What's the matter, AJ? Not getting tired already, are you?" she asked with a playful sneer.
Applejack let out a short bark of a laugh. She was pacing herself, and it was obvious that Rainbow was too, but thanks to her refreshing, rejuvenating night's sleep, she felt like she could keep running like this for a week!
The woods in front of them were close now, and Witch Mountain loomed large beyond them. Applejack gave Rainbow a confident grin and, just to prove that she was nowhere even close to tired, she put on a turn of speed, pulled ahead, and barrelled headlong into the treeline with Rainbow Dash a couple of lengths behind.
Rainbow had simply called them the 'dark woods', but the name was apt enough. A densely packed, wide-trunked assortment of oaks, elms and beeches created a thick, gloomy canopy overhead, and while the trees back in Ponyville were still in blossom, here they had regained their leaves surprisingly quickly after winter's end. Underhoof it was wet and muddy, the spring sun having done enough to melt the snows of the past season but denied the chance to dry out the ground beneath. The forest floor was littered with dead branches and twigs, ripped from their parent trees by the high winds of a fortnight previous, and a layer of soggy, brown decaying leaves left over even from autumn covered the ground.
They raced on through the undulating woods, trading the lead back and forth, splurting through the mud and skidding on the wet leaves, spirits high and only growing as their coats became muckier.
They descended a shallow incline to find that directly across their path lay a toppled tree, the wide trunk wrenched from its roots by some ferocious winter storm. Applejack, leading Dash, narrowed her eyes, licked her lips, and pounced on it. She hit the trunk perfectly, using her momentum and her hindlegs to kick off and send herself soaring through the air. She gave a delighted whoop at the height of her arc – which became a startled yelp when her forelegs returned to the ground... and kept going!
Applejack landed heavily, planning to use the momentum from her leap to catapult herself forward for a few strides. But instead her forehooves plunged into the mud beneath her, quickly followed by her hindlegs, and she immediately sank up to her belly in a thick, squelching bog.
There was a loud wooden thud behind her as Rainbow Dash made her own gallant leap from the tree trunk. Applejack looked around in shock just in time to catch the expression of sudden panic on Dash's face as she sailed right towards her!
Dash's wings flared, beat powerfully, and in an instant she was safely airborne, collision averted, and hovering around and then in front of Applejack.
If there was a look of concern on her face, even for a moment, Applejack missed it. Instead, Rainbow burst out laughing.
Applejack glared. "Well, I'm glad you're havin' a ball."
"Oh, relax AJ. You should see yourself right now!" Then, apparently misinterpreting her glare, Rainbow glanced back at her flapping wings and returned an accusing stare of her own. "Hey! This doesn't count as me breaking my promise, y'know," she said, slowly lowering her height. She prodded the mud below her in several places with a speculative hoof and, finding it suitably firm, she landed and furled her wings, sitting on the solid – if messy – ground scarcely two feet in front of Applejack.
Applejack growled under her breath and looked down, annoyed at the cold, sucking quagmire that had snared her. Two feet. She could have made that distance had she known she needed to. Tentatively she pulled on each of her legs in turn, searching for a way to get them free. But even a careful flex left her with a subtle sinking sensation, which, worryingly, did not quite abate when she became still once more.
She looked up at Rainbow Dash.
Dash looked down at her impatiently. "Uh, this is a race y'know?"
"Sure, Dash," Applejack retorted. "How 'bout I run the rest of it underground? That work for you?"
"Wait," said Dash. "Is that... are you sinking? "
"Seems I am," said Applejack levelly, looking down at the mud as it squelched around her.
"Oh, awesome! " yelled Rainbow. "See? This is just like when Daring Do almost gets trapped in the Swamp of Artax! I told you this'd prove who was the most daring pony."
"Uh huh?" said Applejack, giving her forelegs another hopeful tug to no avail, the sucking mud now above the level of her stomach. "So, am I gettin, like, bravery points or somethin' here?"
Rainbow Dash frowned. "Points? There aren't any points . It's a race! Where only the bravest, most awesomest of ponies reach the finish. Didn't I explain this?"
"Probably," said Applejack absently, scanning around for a vine, or a low branch, or a pegasus, or anything really that she could use to pull herself free, and finding nothing, apparently, of any use whatsoever. "So, uh, how exactly does Daring Do get out?"
"Oh, she taunts a sleeping basilisk nearby until it gets so angry that it comes over to eat her. Then she manages to grab onto it and ride it out of the swamp! It's awesome! Hey?" said Rainbow, eyes alight with excitement, "Want me to go see if I can find one?"
"No, Dash, I really don't think that's gonna help right now!" snapped Applejack irritably. Panic hadn't arrived yet, but it wasn't so distant that she couldn't see it approaching.
"Relax AJ, I'm only kidding. Hang on, I'll go see if I can find like, a branch or something. In the meantime just... stick around! " Dash gave herself a little laugh, but when she looked back she found herself meeting Applejack's angry glare once more. "Jeese, Applejack," she said, rolling her eyes. "Lighten up and don't look so worried."
"I wouldn't be worried if I thought you were givin' this situation the attention it–!"
Applejack cut herself off. Half of her body was now sunk into the mire, and she abruptly looked down at the mud directly beneath her. Then she looked back up with an embarrassed smile. "Heh-heh," she chuckled guiltily.
Rainbow Dash looked at her in confusion. "What?"
"I hit the bottom," replied Applejack.
"Really? You're not sinking anymore?"
Applejack looked down again, as though she could see through the mud. She shifted and flexed her legs and, yes, there was definitely solid ground beneath them now. "Nope."
"You still stuck there?"
"I don't think so," said Applejack. Now that she had something to brace against, she could pull hard on her legs without fear of sinking further. It would take a lot of effort, but she'd eventually be able to haul herself out.
"Great! Well, like I said, this is a race, so..."
In spite of herself, Applejack looked up in surprise, her immediate plans momentarily forgotten. "You're leavin' me here?"
"What? No." Dash looked offended. "But I'm totally timing you."
Applejack looked down again and gritted her teeth with newfound annoyance. With new frustration fueling her struggles, she began to rapidly bend and rock her forelegs back and forth in the bog, hoping to create space to move. Then she started doing the same with her shoulders too, moving them side to side as much as she could in the gloop as it schlucked and slorped around her. Finally with some room to work, she braced her hindlegs as best she could and, with a mighty, protracted heave of her strong back muscles, she reared up.
Her forelegs slowly rose from the mud, inch by agonising inch. "Ngh!" she grunted, her eyes and her jaw clenched shut with the effort. Her knees came free, then the rest of her front legs followed. Her hooves finally slipped from the bog with a loud plop and she thrust them desperately forward. They came down and dug satisfyingly into the muddy, firm ground just in front of Dash, and, pulling hard on them, Applejack slowly began to drag the rest of herself out of the pit.
Even so it was a lot harder than she thought it would be, and as her hindquarters at last came free she pulled herself, panting hard and caked in wet, sticky mud, onto firm ground and lay on her side. She thought about standing but the amount of energy she'd just expended suggested that, were she to try, she'd likely just find the earth again rather quickly.
"Well that took forever," said Dash from somewhere above and nearby. "Seriously, that was thirty-four Mississippis, and you're totally on the honour system, okay?"
"Wha...?" said Applejack, still breathing heavily.
"My head-start," explained Dash. "I'd be way ahead if I hadn't stopped to bail you out." Then, without any further ceremony she reared and began galloping once more, calling back over her shoulder as she raced away deeper into the woods. "See you at the finish line!"
Applejack watched as Dash vanished into the thick forest ahead. With no small amount of determination she forced herself back up to her hooves, and found all four of her legs tired but still in fine function. She gave a powerful shake, casting off all but the most stubborn of mud from her coat, and stood rooted to the spot, catching her breath for exactly thirty-four Mississipis.
Then she was off in pursuit of that damned, cocky pegasus.
Author's Note
The thick scent of the dingey, smoke-filled bar was so bad as to be almost choking. Everywhere she looked there were cut-purses and cut-throats, all eyeing each other up as their next target while Daring Do watched on from her quiet corner table, her hat pulled low. The barely contained tension in the air, threatening to boil over into a mass brawl at the slightest provocation, seemed somehow normal for this dive. What a great place to meet a contact.
Still, if it came to that, she already knew exactly how she wanted the fight to start.
As she watched, through the entrance stepped a newcomer. Pony. Stallion. Brown coat. Black mane/tail (greying). Confident. Sleazy. As one, every pair of eyes in the bar turned towards him, decided he was no threat, and then turned away so they could look at him without being obvious, as their next mark.
The newcomer caught her eye, smiled a smooth smile, and began ambling easily over to her corner with a nonchalant grin. Behind him, through the door stepped three other ponies. Heavy-set. Focussed. Muscle. They surveyed the room quickly and all made their way to the bar, ordering nothing.
As one, every pair of eyes decided that Newcomer wasn't worth the hassle after all.
He didn't so much sit in the seat opposite her, as he oozed into it, wearing a grin that was all smarmy-charm and sinister charisma. Everything about this guy screamed, 'greaseball.'
"Ah, Ms. Do. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me." He had an accent, lending him an air of pseudo-sophistication that he seemed determined to play on. "Allow me to introduce myself..."
"I know who you are, Mr. Caballeron." At one time or another, he'd been on the cover of every archeological publication going. She'd read enough of those articles to know what he was about. Some archeologists were in it for the knowledge, others were in it for the adventure... and then there were archeologists like him; only in it for the riches and the spotlight.
His smooth, too-friendly smile flickered for just an instant. Then it was back. "I am honoured that you have heard of me. Though you do me a disservice, Ms. Do. Doctor Caballeron, if you please."
"Doctor," Daring nodded. No need to be spiteful towards him. "Your message said you had something for me." No need to beat about the bush either. If possible, she wanted to be out of here before the brawl began.
His over-charismatic smile increased subtly and he gave her a respectful, businesslike nod. "I have a proposal for you, Daring Do. You see for me, archeology has become... routine. I grow tired of endless dig-sites. Sifting through the dirt for minor relics has... lost its appeal. I long for a real excursion. I long for adventure, into the very heart of ancient ruins, untouched for centuries, perhaps millennia. And, when I heard you had located the lost city of Palomino – a culture on which I have, incidentally, done a great deal of study – I thought we might be in a position to be of... mutual benefit to one another. I am here to propose a joint expedition. Perhaps even the beginning of a profitable partnership between us, hmm?"
As he leaned slightly across the table, Daring leaned back with a frown. She shook her head slightly. "Sorry, Doctor. Daring Do works alone. No exceptions. No offense. You and your coltfriends would only slow me down."
"Ah, you are referring to my... entourage," said Caballeron slickly. "A necessary inconvenience in a place like this, especially for someone of my repute. They would not be joining us. As for myself... I can assure you, my knowledge would only speed our progress, not hinder it. And upon our triumphant return, my connections would ensure that our discoveries were publicised far and wide. Fortune and glory, Daring Do, fortune and glory. Why allow your greatest accomplishments to continue to go unappreciated?"
Daring Do was pressing herself into the corner now, subconsciously wanting to be as far away from the smarmy Doctor as possible. But with a sour taste of bile, she found she couldn't just dismiss his case. He was an expert, and his knowledge might be useful, perhaps even necessary. There were questions about Palomino that she simply hadn't been able to find the answers to, and if the Razor was there, then there was much more at stake here than a simple lost city.
But she didn't trust the Doctor one bit, and she certainly wasn't going to travel with someone she didn't trust. It was a rule, and one that had that had served her well. Unfortunately, it was fairly obvious that Caballeron wasn't just going to take 'no' for an answer and she needed to tread very carefully: the whole bar was a tinderbox right now. If she refused him outright and his pride made him angry or shouty, that might just be the spark to set the whole thing...
Actually... a tiny smile crossed her lips. If she could placate him now, and get Caballeron and his expertise to the lost city, without actually having to put up with him... that was kind of a win-win-win.
"Okay, Doctor," she said with a cocky smirk. "Here's my proposal. I'll give you the location of Palomino. It's one hundred miles due east from here, across dangerous, murky swamps, past hordes of fierce creatures, and over narrow, crumbling mountain passes. You beat me there, or even arrive at the same time – you prove you can keep up with me; that you can handle adventure – and we'll talk about partnerships. If not, then you dig around the city all you want, but we go our separate ways forever. Deal?"
"An intriguing proposal, Ms. Do," said the Doctor, the confidence in that smooth, slick tone never changing. "I believe I will surprise you. I accept your challenge." He leaned a little closer and said in a lower voice, "I look forward to our future adventures."
Daring Do had to hide a self-sure grin. I don't think so.
Suddenly, from the far side of the bar, somepony shouted in anger. Somepony stood abruptly. Somepony raised a chair. Somepony threw a kick.
The tinderbox ignited and immediately everypony in the room was reaching for a bottle or a stool, and, in the blink of an eye, fighting like bears, much to the astonishment of the Muscle triplets still at the bar.
Caballeron also looked shocked, but Daring Do just sighed. So close. Then, in a swift motion she stood and flipped the table between them sideways, into the face of the blue-coated stallion rushing them from the next table over. Next she flared her wings, beating them twice to gain height and alight on the window-sill in the wall just behind her, and with a smooth kick, the window shutters flew open.
"Gotta go, doc," she said, re-adjusting her hat. "See you at the finish line."
-- Excerpted from 'Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams.' Chapter 3: The Risky Race. Reproduced with kind permission from Hoofprint Publishing.
The River and the Pegasus
Dash must have set off at a sprint, determined to make the most of her start because run as she might, Applejack could catch sight of neither hide nor hair of her.
But the impressions left by her hooves in the muddy ground were simple to follow, and Applejack chased her trail through the woods due south towards the foot of the mountain.
The hoofprints left by Rainbow Dash remained absolutely regular and unbroken, and Applejack had to admit she was impressed that Dash was clearly sticking so rigidly to her self-imposed no-flying rule, even without her there to keep her on the level. That went some of the way to quelling her fury.
She had been more than just annoyed with Dash when she set off after her – she'd been fuming, and she hadn't quite been able to put her hoof on why . But running alone through the woods was nothing if not good for introspection, and so she'd been trying to fathom the reason for her sudden temper.
Had it been because Dash hadn't helped her when she might have been in trouble? Well, no, she decided. It hadn't really happened like that. She might not exactly have leapt into action, but of course Dash would have helped her had she really needed it. In the end though, she hadn't needed it, and Rainbow had known that.
Had it been, then, because Dash had laughed at her, and acted all cavalier and brash about her predicament? No, she decided again. Applejack had to admit she probably had looked kind of funny in that pit, all stuck-legs and muddy-tail. And as for being brash and cavalier... that was just Dash being Dash. In fact Applejack had long suspected it was one of the reasons she liked her so much.
Applejack had known a few too many pompous, ego-centric ponies in her time. Almost without exception, such ponies inspired feelings of quiet loathing and disappointment in her, and she went out of her way to avoid them, wherever possible. But not Dash. She was just different somehow to all those others. She was arrogant... but never condescending. She was full of herself, but never self-important. She was blunt, but never cruel.
She would openly tell everyone she met that she was the best flier, or racer, or daredevil ever, but she would never tell anypony that she thought she was better than they were, and that was the difference.
And the best part was she did it without even thinking. She didn't try to hide the ugly parts of herself behind a polite façade like all those other stuck-up ponies, because those parts just weren't there. She was Rainbow Dash and she didn't pretend to be anything else. Why would she need to? Applejack appreciated the inherent honesty in her character, and Rainbow appreciated ponies who told things like they were. Applejack was good at that. They were good friends. Great friends. In fact, Dash was one of the best friends she'd ever had.
So why was she so ticked off with her?
In the end she decided it was because Rainbow had just up and left her behind without so much as a backward glance, and as she thought about it, she decided that she was being unfair. This was a race after all, and it had never been anything else. Expecting Dash to wait for her and then being angry when she hadn't, sounded like a pretty bad case of sour grapes. Rainbow hadn't really done anything wrong, she concluded, and with this new revelation her anger finally, slowly, lifted.
Who's a silly pony? You are, Applejack , she mused.
But as the anger cleared away, Applejack found something else hidden behind it. The same sad, sour pang she'd felt earlier, when she'd hoped that this might be something they could do cooperatively rather than competitively, and realised that it wasn't going to happen. It was a race.
Rainbow Dash wanted to win. Applejack just wanted to run .
And running with a friend was so much better than running alone.
The woods began to thin, both in density and in actuality as the thick-trunked oaks and elms gave way to narrow-trunked, shorter trees; mainly silver birches and their ilk. The forest canopy overhead began to break, finally allowing real sunlight through, and the muddy ground began to dry and firm up.
As she ran on she thought she caught the sound of water, and a couple of minutes later she found herself joining the bank of a river running almost parallel with her course.
It was wide and fast-flowing, the far bank easily thirty yards away. The current was swift enough, and littered with enough flotsam in the form of dead branches and the like, that swimming across was sufficiently dangerous that it wasn’t worth the risk. With the mountain still almost directly to the south, Applejack found herself running alongside the right-hand riverbank as it flowed south-southwest. She would need to cross it eventually if it maintained its current course, but until she could find a safe place to do so it would continue to take her in almost the right direction.
Rainbow had clearly had the same idea, judging by the hoofprints she had left along the bank. And she clearly hadn't slowed down either.
Applejack picked up her speed to a full gallop but even so noticed that the various logs, branches and other debris being carried down the river were outpacing her. And oddly enough the river was flowing more or less – though not exactly – towards the foot of the mountain. That left her speculating on the nature of the terrain between here and there, and what effect that might have on the water. It might be best to try and cross it sooner rather than later.
Before that thought had left her, she caught the briefest glimpse of a tiny flash of colour somewhere ahead, somewhere downriver. She wasn't sure she'd seen it properly, but she began to sprint as fast as she could just in case.
There.
Two hundred yards ahead the river briefly narrowed from a width of over thirty yards to no more than twenty, and shallowed considerably into a natural ford about hock-deep. Rainbow Dash was right there in the middle, slowly picking her way across to the far bank and looking very wobbly and unsteady as she did so.
The narrowing river, combined with its sudden reduction in depth caused the water to flow with frightening speed over the ford, and it was obvious that Dash was barely able to keep her footing on the smooth, slippery rocks beneath. Her wings were flared too, but only apparently as an aid to balance. Flying over the river to the far bank would have been trivial and much safer for her, but Dash was apparently sticking to her word even in the face of such ridiculous danger.
Applejack knew that it took much less of a current than you might think to sweep you off your hooves, and Dash was really struggling to resist the flow. On top of that she was also having to try and dodge the constant debris carried downstream. Most of it was just twigs, but occasionally a large, thick branch or log shot past her, far too close for comfort. Worse, the river further downstream looked much less inviting. It seemed to begin to foam into fierce rapids as it negotiated a pair of sharp, pointed rocks, and Applejack suddenly had horrific visions of Rainbow Dash being swept away into that torrent, never to be seen again.
Rainbow herself looked worried. It was a rare expression, and one Applejack had seen only a couple of times before, when she knew she was in over her head. But for some reason she wasn't using her wings to get her out of trouble. She seemed determined to wade across even in spite of the fact that she knew the current was too strong for her.
Why? Applejack scowled and gritted her teeth as she ran for the ford. She didn't care if Rainbow flew across the river! If there was a choice between Rainbow Dash keeping her promise and Rainbow Dash being safe, she would want her to be safe every time.
And, all of a sudden, she wasn't safe.
Rainbow Dash, looking down at the riverbed beneath her and planning her next fragile step, completely missed the large, long, rotten tree-trunk carried towards her by the pressing current.
Applejack didn't. She saw it. From a hundred yards away she saw exactly what was going to happen, and her blood ran cold.
"Dash! Look out!" she called desperately, as loud as her lungs would allow.
Rainbow must had heard something of her yell over the raging of the water because her head snapped up. But she saw only the huge trunk, twelve yards long and two feet thick, bearing down on her.
It was too close. There was nothing she could do. The trunk hit her hard. Knocked her from her hooves. The river took her and she was carried helplessly downstream towards the twin rocks and the furious rapids. She cried out something unintelligible. She beat her wings desperately, uselessly, her feathers waterlogged and incapable of providing lift.
Rainbow Dash was swept away into the torrent, never to be seen again...
No!
Applejack's hooves thundered, churning the dirt beneath them as she pelted desperately along the bank, reaching a pace unthinkable, fueled by adrenaline and terror. Her mind ascended to a new level of consciousness. A primal state of being designed for survival and nothing else. The woods, the earth, the sky, they all fell away. The river and the pegasus were all that existed now, and her new, cold mind had but one objective: remove the latter from the former.
At the point the rapids began in earnest, in the centre of the flow the two large boulders jutted side-by-side from the water, as though a gateway to doom itself. Rainbow was carried between and beyond them, lost to sight in the white-water, and there was nothing that Applejack could do to save her. Meanwhile the trunk that had hit her wedged itself against the rocks, resting perpendicular to the flow of the river. A two-foot wide, twelve yard long makeshift span held firmly in place by the pressure of the water upon it. And on the far side of the river, just a little further downstream, stood a small gathering of birch trees, each of their trunks suffering from an infestation of Climbing Vineweed; the thick, fibrous, rootlike vines climbing and spiraling around the bark.
Everything seemed to come together.
Applejack raced for the riverbank to the point nearest the wedged tree-trunk. Without hesitation, or even conscious thought guiding her actions, she made the leap and landed perfectly on the slick, narrow log. She didn't stop moving, pelting along its length to the far end with speed and sure-footedness to make a mountain-goat jealous. She barely even noted the river passing beneath her as she jumped again, easily clearing the distance to the new riverbank. Then she was racing to the birch trees, her eyes already locked onto a likely vine; the mottled green skin indicating a healthy stem, strong and supple. She grasped it with her teeth and it was the work of precious seconds to yank its lengthy coils from the tree it stifled. With a practised ease she fashioned the vine into an inch-thick lasso of makeshift rope, coiled it loosely about her neck and set off sprinting downstream once more.
She had lost sight of Rainbow Dash. And she had lost ground on her too. But she was going to catch up to her. Of this she was absolutely certain. Rainbow was in the river somewhere, and Applejack was going to get her out.
The rapids looked terrible. The white-water foamed and thundered between half a dozen more jagged rocks staggered down the river. Dash could be anywhere in that. She could even be underwater at this very instant, forced down by the current. Drowning.
But she wasn't. She was okay. She had to be. Because Applejack was going to find her. Applejack was going to get her out. Her certainty never wavered.
There she was!
Almost in the middle of the river, a small, jagged grey rock thrust about three-feet above the roaring foam. And Dash was clinging onto it for dear life, desperate to keep the rapids from tearing her from her only hope of survival. Her forelegs were wrapped around the triangular point of the rock while the river surged around and splashed heavily over it. Her wings, usually her salvation, were now a liability; when she tried to beat them, the water simply found more surface area on which to press and her grip slipped.
Her eyes were shut. Her teeth clenched. Her hold on the rock fragile and weakening all the time.
She looked scared.
It didn't matter. Because Applejack had found her. Applejack was there for her. And Applejack was going to get her out.
Applejack reached the bank across from Rainbow Dash. She and the rock were about fifteen meters away. So close. Applejack threw her new vine-rope to the ground. Then, she yelled as loud as her lungs would allow.
"DASH! CATCH!"
Rainbow looked up. Between the water splashing and crashing over her head, she made eye-contact with Applejack and, instantly, there was relief there. Like she knew she was going to be fine. She wasn't even safe yet. She wasn't even close. And yet, just in that look, Applejack could see the confidence, the brashness, the cockyness already replacing the fear.
The lasso whirled, and Applejack cast it out over the river with practised, perfect aim. The looped end reached the rock safely, and with some precarious maneuvering, Dash managed to cinch it tight around one of her forelegs. Meanwhile, Applejack wound her end around her own foreleg several times so it wouldn't slip, came as close to the bank as she dared, and planted her hooves firmly in the soft dirt beneath her, ready to take the strain.
Dash looked up at her. It was tough to hear over the roar of the rapids, but Applejack just about made out the words.
"Now what? "
Consarn it!
"Dash, let go!"
"What?! "
"Dash, trust me! Let go of the dang rock!"
A couple of thick branches sailed past, just beneath the vine. If something big came downriver and snagged it, or broke it... she'd lose her. "Dash, please! I got ya! Just. Let. GO!"
She did. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, released her grip on the rock and was swept away into the river.
The vine went taught. Applejack flinched, but remained firm.
Dash was carried downstream, but with the makeshift rope anchored solidly by Applejack, Rainbow's path through the river described the arc of a quarter-circle. No amount of raging or frothing water could carry her further away than the length of vine connecting her to the shore would allow, and so with Applejack acting as a pivot, she began to swing inward towards the bank fifteen short meters downriver.
With immense relief, Applejack saw Dash reach the edge of the river where the torrent flowed less quickly, and with a little difficulty the pegasus hauled herself up out of the water onto the safety of the shore. She disentangled herself from the vine, and only then did Applejack let her own end drop to the floor. She trotted to Dash. In fact it took all of her effort not to throw herself at her.
"Dash? You okay?"
"Yeah... I'm fine," she said, checking herself over. She gave herself a shake and flared her wings quickly a couple of times, casting the excess water off and returning herself to airworthy status. Then she turned a grin on Applejack. "Heh! Guess you caught up, huh? So much for my head-start."
Not even a 'thank you.' She'd half-expected it, but there was nothing quite like being taken for granted to make you feel appreciated.
But really, she was just glad Dash was okay.
And furious with her for taking such a stupid risk. "What the hay did ya think you were doin'? You can't wade across a current like that!"
"What? Were you even running along the same river? There wasn't anywhere better! How else was I gonna cross it?"
"You've got wings , Dash!"
"Aw, no. This is a race, and I told you, I'm gonna run it fair and square so there's no argument over who the most awesome pony is!"
"The race?! Dash, you coulda been hurt! "
"Pfft!" Dash scoffed. "I'm fine. What's the matter, Appleslack? That yellow belly isn't back, is it?"
Applejack fumed. "I ain't scared , Dash, I'm–!"
"Great! 'Cause I really don't wanna win by forfeit!" said Dash, turning away with a superior grin. Then she was off on her hooves again, galloping fast towards the mountain.
"Oh no you don't! " yelled Applejack in a rage, racing after her. Towards the mountain. Getting closer all the time.
* * *
She had to beat Rainbow Dash.
It probably wasn't the best plan ever, but it was the best she could come up with.
Dash seemed determined to see this crazy race through to the end, no matter how dangerous it might get. Even if Applejack were to pull up now, quit cold turkey, and refuse to run another step... Rainbow would run on to the finish without her, just so she could get her bragging rights. And considering what they'd been through so far, Applejack wasn't going to let Rainbow go on alone. In case something happened to her.
So she was committed to reaching the end with Dash already.
But if they reached the end together and Dash won... oh there was going to be so much smugness and gloating. Rainbow Dash had built this up as the be-all-and-end-all of races, and she would be rubbing Applejack's nose in it for ages . Maybe even forever.
And... as good a sport as she was... Applejack didn't think she could take that. Not forever. What if... what if it went on so long that she started avoiding Rainbow Dash, just to escape the constant bragging? What if they ended up not hanging out together? They might drift apart or, eventually, even stop being friends...
But if she won... it would be different. Dash would be disappointed sure, but Applejack would pep her up again. She'd make her feel better , not worse. They'd find something else they could do, maybe together this time. They'd go back to being friends like always.
Pretty much the future of their entire friendship rested on Applejack winning this race now. And that was something worth fighting a whole lot for.
So she had to beat Rainbow Dash.
They both ran hard, neither willing to give up the lead. But the playful banter of earlier was gone, replaced by the fire of determination.
They left the bank of the river as it continued its journey south-southwest, and found themselves once more running through the flat, sparse woods. And although Witch Mountain loomed large ahead of them now, the land had not yet started to rise.
After a short while they picked up a trail. An actual beaten dirt track through the woods, though overgrown with shrubs and clearly not maintained. It was pitted and puddly but it took them directly south, heading right for the mountain. After a mile or so the track narrowed and Applejack, seeing her chance, dug deep and forged ahead by a couple of lengths. Dash wouldn't be able to overtake her now without running through the undergrowth crowding the edges of the trail. That would both slow her down, and risk her getting a few scratches she didn't need.
Faintly, and from somewhere off to the right her ears picked up the sound of the river once more. Distant, but roaring. The noise was similar to the rapids earlier, but somehow hollower and more final. As though it had begun to cascade into a waterf–
Whoa, Nelly!
She hadn't been paying attention to where she was running, and the speed she was going meant she hadn't seen it until it was too late.
A chasm. Two-hundred yards across to the other side, and running for what seemed like miles east and west. There was no warning – the forest just ended, the ground falling away into a great, yawning void. The rocky sides of the canyon stood jagged and irregular, stretching as far as the eye could see as though some great, impossible force had simply torn the earth apart long ago. About half a mile away to the right, the river plunged over the edge into a beautiful cascade, tumbling down and down into the abyss, joining a new river far below, flowing eastwards now toward whatever ocean it would eventually call home.
The trail they had been following led directly to the mouth of an ancient, narrow rope-bridge reaching across the gulf. Even from a cursory glance it was obviously in poor repair, all cracked slats and frayed ropes, and just wide enough for one pony to cross at a time.
And before she could react to the rotten wood, the sickly, weak ropes, and the crumbling anchor points... before she could stop ... Applejack was already on it, and being pressed heedlessly forward by Rainbow Dash at her heels.
Gonna be okay. Don't look down. Look straight ahead. That's where you're goin', Applejack. Don't look down.
But that little voice in the back of her head... that little survivalist sixth sense... had done something with the information it had received. Performed some little, instinctive analysis on the state of the ropes and the condition of the anchor points. And in a quiet, very apologetic voice, it informed her that unfortunately, the bridge in its current state could not support the weight of a pony. Let alone two.
It didn't.
Behind her, something crumbled. Something snapped. Something twanged . And as she passed the halfway point of the bridge, her stomach lurched sickeningly as it simply fell away from under her.
The support ropes on the north side had given up, their frayed and rotten threads pulled apart and releasing most of the bridge to fall through the air into the rift. The ropes on the south side fared better, remaining strong and taught, at least for now.
Applejack desperately grabbed at one of the stronger-looking wooden slats beneath her, wrapped her hooves around it and clung on for all she was worth. The bridge swung like a pendulum, and she along with it, towards the south wall of the canyon. Applejack cried out as the rock face rushed at her with alarming speed.
She shut her eyes and braced for the impact.
When it came, it wasn't as bad as she'd feared. She had thought that the rock face would dash the remaining slats to splinters and send her tumbling inescapably into the gorge below. But instead she found herself just able to cling on as the bridge struck the solid cliff. As the jolt came though, she felt her Stetson's normally unflappable grip on her head falter and fail, and it tumbled away. She was helpless to save it – she couldn't reach out for it without falling herself. Automatically, she followed it with her gaze as it sailed far into the chasm below and... and now she was looking down.
Urk. Her stomach turned a somersault.
Heights didn't usually bother her too much. Sure, she preferred to keep her hooves on the ground, but she'd been up in Twilight's balloon many times, not to mention visited Cloudsdale before now. But somehow, being in such a precarious position on the side of a gorge spoke to some little, primal fear deep inside her earth-pony ancestry. It was a long, long way to the canyon floor and the shallow river.
She did however finally see why the bridge had sustained less of an impact than it should have when it hit the cliff.
Twenty feet below her, with one of the guide ropes clenched tightly in her mouth, Rainbow Dash was hovering. She'd done her best to arrest the momentum of the bridge as it fell, and she had done enough to allow Applejack to hang on. Dash looked up at her and let go of the rope. Then she beat her wings a tad harder and lazily ascended to her level.
"Whew, close one! Everything okay?"
"I think so," said Applejack, looking herself over. "That is, aside from the fact I'm stuck halfway up a cliff holdin' onto a bridge that might give out at any second."
"I know! This is almost exactly what happened to Daring Do when she got cornered on the Bridge of Kali-Ma! How weird is–?"
"Dash!" snapped Applejack, as she awkwardly tried to find secure purchase on the unsteady bridge. "Would ya please quit yakkin' about Daring Do?!"
Rainbow Dash responded by fixing her with an offended scowl and a grumpy pout.
Applejack finally wrestled herself into a position where it didn't feel like she was about to be blown off the bridge by a stiff breeze. She looked up at the the cliff above her, the summit about a hundred yards straight up and looking a long way away. Then she looked pointedly at Dash, flapping easily beside her. Then deliberately back up at the cliff face. Then back to Dash. When no reaction was forthcoming, she frowned at her. "Ain't ya gonna offer?"
"I'm waiting for you to ask," Dash retorted.
Applejack gritted her teeth and growled a low growl. Fine! She glared up at the cliff face stretching above her once more, challenging her. With great care, and no help at all from Rainbow Dash, she began to climb.
There was just enough space between the slats of the bridge – now the rungs of the ladder – for her to wedge her forehooves between them and get a good grip. Likewise, she could just about get her hind hooves onto each slat in turn and it wasn't long before she found a slow, deliberate rhythm of ascent. About one-in-four of the slats were broken or rotted – not fit to support her weight, and had there been two or three bad rungs in a row at any point, she would have become stuck and unable to climb any further. But by some luck she always found a sturdy one within reach, and her progress toward eventual safety remained steady.
And all the while Dash was there, hovering lazily only a couple of feet away, like this was all just another day.
"You timing me at this, too?" Applejack asked irritably after a minute of climbing, deliberately not looking at Dash. She could just imagine what her smug, pegasus face might look like about now.
"Technically, I was behind you when we hit the bridge, so really, I'm below you right now. I'd reach the top after you no matter how long you drag this out for."
"Right. And in the meantime you're just gonna float there and watch me, huh?"
"You know, if you need help, you just gotta–"
"Does it look like I need help?!" said Applejack. "I'm doin' just fine on my own here. What I meant was, why don't you make yerself useful or somethin'? Go see if'n you can find my hat down there." As she said it, she automatically looked down again. Which was a mistake. She gave a sharp intake of breath and forced her gaze upwards. That's where you're goin', Applejack.
"Uh..." said Rainbow, considering. Through the corner of her eye, Applejack saw her look at the gorge below, then up at the remains of the bridge above her. "Nah. I'm gonna stick around here. Just because, y'know?"
"Oh, don't let me keep ya," grumped Applejack, continuing to focus on the climb. "I'll be just dandy. Turns out this here ain't no more difficult than climbing a tree."
She felt the double-take. A split-second hesitation before the reply. "Seriously? Since when do you know how to climb a tree?"
"Are you kiddin' me?" Applejack shot. "You seriously think an earth-pony raised her whole life around trees don't know how to climb one?"
"I've just never seen you up a tree before."
"Maybe that's because I ain't a foal any more, Dash. I stopped climbing 'em about the same time I had to start buckin' 'em."
"Just saying, maybe you should try it once in a while. Trees are pretty awesome. The best ones even come with free apples, so it's like, you wake up and there's a snack right there."
"They don't come with free apples, Rainbow Dash! You steal the apples and I pretend not to notice!"
"Oh come on! They literally grow on trees! " Then, after a quiet, contemplative second, she said, "Okay fine, so I probably owe you for about a bajillion apples then. Uh... how much is an apple anyway?"
"For you, Dash?" said Applejack. She stopped climbing, sighed and gave a subtle shake of her head. She'd never really been bothered by Dash's harmless scrumping. Because... it kept her coming back to the farm. "Tell ya what," she sighed again, beginning her ascent once more. "You give me the five bits I had to drop Rarity to fix her dish up and we'll call it quits."
"Oh," said Dash. "S–sure."
"Assuming this stupid race don't kill me before I make it back home," Applejack griped.
There was a faint snort of derision from behind her. "Yeah, like I'd let anything like that happen. Why do you think I'm still here, watching you?"
Applejack frowned. "Because you thought I'd need your help. Probably wanted to hear me beg for it, too. Well, I got news for ya, Dash ," Applejack sneered as she pulled herself over the top of the cliff to safety. "I did it on my own, without your help! Ha!"
Wait. What?
Applejack blinked and looked around. Sure enough she was standing on the cliff-top on the south side of the bridge, safe and sound. The remains of the bridge itself trailed away over the rocky precipice and out of sight, and on the far side of the gorge lay the woods and the waterfall. Tentatively, Applejack approached the edge of the cliff and looked over. The bridge hung vertically, a hundred yards straight down, and what seemed like only moments ago she had been all the way at the bottom there, climbing.
She looked at Dash as the pegasus alighted beside her.
Had she... had Dash been distracting her? To take her mind off the climb?
Had she been helping her?
"Dash?" Applejack asked, "Did you... were you doin' that on purpose?"
Dash looked at her with her confused face. "Uh, doing what? "
"Talkin' to me. 'Bout climbin' trees and apples an' such."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Then she stared back at her with a frown. "Look, just because you turned into Grumpyjack all of a sudden doesn't mean I'm gonna start giving you the silent treatment."
"Okay," said Applejack quietly. She wasn't sure if that was a yes or not. "Thanks all the same."
"Sure, whatever." Dash waved a dismissive hoof. "Now you'd better get running, because I'm totally about to reach the top," she said, peering over the edge at the nonexistent pegasus climbing the bridge, hot on Applejack's heels.
Applejack was startled for a moment. Then she softened her voice. "Dash, look. This race–"
"Is going to decide who the fastest and most daring and most awesome pony in Ponyville is," interrupted Dash. "And I don't wanna win by default, so go on. Get going, because here I come!"
With a sad grimace, Applejack looked around, up at the mountain towering above her now, then back to Dash, whose attention was still focused on something over the edge of the cliff. Rainbow still wanted to win; still wanted to beat her. That was her primary goal in all this.
There was that awful, disappointed pang again.
And Applejack was forced back to the position she'd been in just before they'd reached the bridge. She had to end this race quickly, and she had to win it.
Reluctantly, she took off galloping up the mountain trail.
Witch Mountain. A rocky, grey, granite peak rising at first ponderously, then abruptly from the earth. There were far taller mountains in Equestria, and there were certainly trickier climbs. Witch Mountain was nothing special, though it could at least boast an unusual visual geometry.
On the north quarter of the mountain, from northeast through to north-northwest, the slope rose much more sharply than the graceful, almost forty-five degree angle of elsewhere, eventually becoming vertical. As the slope – or really the cliff – climbed about halfway to the summit it curved away very slightly into a shallow overhang, and then gave rise to a gigantic, flat, crescent-shaped plateau which hugged the rest of the peak. The plateau was about a quarter of a mile deep at its thickest point, with the interior curve joining the rest of the mountain as it rose at a steep angle to its final apex, and the crest of the mountain itself was slightly offset, bent over at a subtle but noticeably crooked angle. With roughly the right view from the north – and with a little imagination – the plateau could be made to form the wide brim, and the steep peak and lopsided tip the conical crown, of a classic witches hat. Hence, Witch Mountain.
Witch Cave was nestled somewhere up on that wide plateau where it met the steep mountain face as it rose again. The flat expanse also hosted a large, dense copse of pine trees, though there were slightly too few of them to call it a true wood. With the steep slope on the north face making ascent almost impossible, the easiest way up to the plateau was to follow the mountain around to the west, where it sloped more gradually, and then come back at it from that direction once one had climbed high enough.
That seemed to be the purpose of the path on which she was running, for it hadn't ended on the far side of the bridge. Instead it had continued around the west aspect, climbing the mountain, twisting and turning to follow the irregular contours of the slope. The soft dirt from the woods was gone, replaced now by a pale grey track of rock and dust and scree. Keeping her footing on the loose shingle was trickier up here, but the path was at least wide, so an unscheduled trip over the edge and down the mountainside was never on the cards.
Rainbow Dash was gone.
It had taken all of about fifty strides for Applejack's legs to remind her – quite insistently – that they had just climbed a one-hundred yard vertical cliff, and that by trying to sprint up a mountain too, she was asking just a little too much of them right now. Rainbow Dash had no such issues. Her legs were fresh, and about two minutes after Applejack had started running, Dash had easily passed her with a grin, a raspberry, and a, "See ya later, Apple-smack!"
And just to add insult to injury, Dash had been wearing her hat to boot! Like it was some sort of trophy. She must have spotted where it had landed, waited until Applejack's back was turned, and flown down to steal it.
"Dash! Gimme that back!" she'd yelled after her with heavy, laboured breaths.
"Finders keepers!" Rainbow had called over her shoulder.
No amount of teeth-gritting or fierce determination could force Applejack's weary limbs to keep pace, and she'd lost her rival from sight around the next bend in the path. She hadn't seen her since. Rainbow left no hoofprints on the rocky ground to follow. No sign of her passing. No indication that she was okay and still running the race. Applejack had to take it on faith that she was still up ahead somewhere.
She wasn't going to catch up now. She knew that. She wasn't going to win. Defeat was inevitable. Gloating was certain. For the next few hours, days, maybe even weeks or longer, it was going to be pretty unpleasant to be around Rainbow Dash. And that thought upset her most.
Perhaps she was listening to the complaints of her fatigued legs, or perhaps she subconsciously wanted to put the bragging off for as long as possible, but she had dropped her pace now to a slow canter. The certainty that she would lose – if she hadn't lost already – liberated her from any pretense at speed.
The path eventually curved into a tight left hairpin and doubled back on itself, leading back around the mountain to the north and the plateau, continuing to climb higher. It was only when Applejack made that turn that she happened to notice her own, lengthy shadow cast on the mountainside. Instinctively she glanced from it out over to the west, to see the sun hanging low in the sky.
Winter was only just past and the days were still short. The glowing, deep orange orb even now prepared to greet the horizon, and in a little over an hour it would be dark. The soft breeze on the air was chill, as it had been that morning, and a clear, cold night beckoned.
Applejack sighed a long sigh. She wouldn't be making it home before nightfall.
She continued to canter along the path, the steep slope of the mountain climbing upwards and away on her right, and receding now as the path widened and flattened to seamlessly join the plateau.
Then she was upon it. A great, flat expanse looking out over the north, decorated by a thick grove of green fir trees that thrived defiantly in the rocky ground. The band of trees covered most of the plateau's surface, except for a thirty-yard border closest to the mountain slope, and the outer edges to the north of the plateau. The clean, fresh scent of pine lingered on the cold breeze and the sunset conspired to cast long, dark shadows within the thicket.
Applejack slowed to a walk. She hugged the mountain wall, keeping it on her right and the treeline of pines on her left, searching for the cave where Rainbow Dash would no doubt be waiting to relentlessly celebrate her victory. It wasn't too long before the slope of the mountain obscured the sun from sight behind her, casting her surroundings into a gloom that would only get darker now.
There was the cave. A relatively nondescript, nearly circular entrance about twelve-feet high in the face of the north slope, the interior cast into shadow and the dim light making it too dark to really see into from outside. It was not big nor imposing nor remarkable in any way. Simply a hole in the side of the mountain, barely even worth a second glance.
But Rainbow Dash wasn't there.
Applejack approached the cave mouth and stopped. And sat. She looked inside but the cloying shadows obscured everything a few meters beyond the threshold. She looked uncertainly about her. Left. Right. Behind her into the trees. Searching for Rainbow Dash who was surely here somewhere. A few butterflies stirred in her stomach as she braced herself for a sudden movement and a loud "BOO!" from her prankster friend. Had it happened, Applejack, sat there alone in the fading gloom, would have jumped out of her skin... and been immensely relieved. She waited for it to happen. She willed it to happen.
Nothing happened.
Finally standing, Applejack approached the mouth of the cave.
"Hello?" she called, cautiously. "Rainbow?" Her voice echoed on the stone walls and faded into the darkness.
Then it was answered.
"Applejack?" It seemed to come from somewhere not so far inside, though the distortion and the echo made it difficult to judge. "Uh... lil' help?"
"Rainbow!" Before she could stop herself, Applejack was galloping into the cave in search of the voice. After only a few strides though she had to come to a dead stop because she could see nothing . Not even see her own hoof in front of her face. With a deep breath she closed her eyes and began to count to thirty. "Rainbow?" she called. "You okay?"
"I'm sorta stuck. What's taking you so long?"
Applejack reached thirty and opened her eyes. The effect on her night-vision was dramatic and even with the little light that there was she could now make out the walls of the cave and, just up ahead, no more than twenty paces in front of her, she caught a flash of colour in the gloom. A tail.
She quickened her step, brushing large, thick and surprisingly tough cobwebs aside as she did so. As she reached Dash, her friend's predicament became apparent.
Rainbow Dash had clearly pelted into the cave without any heed at all. She had plunged headlong into a whole series of the same thick, stringy cobwebs, cast all across the interior like a series of gossamer nets. The myriad threads had clung to her and entangled her before contracting like elastic, lifting her five or six inches from the ground. She had obviously tried to escape using her wings and they had become ensnared too, tangled and useless in the sticky silk. She wasn't immobile, but the fact that she could gain no purchase on the ground or any of the cave walls meant that she was limited to hanging and thrashing, neither of which improved her situation.
Had they been back in Ponyville... had this been a normal, fun day, this would have been the perfect time for a, 'Hey Rainbow, how's it hangin'?', remark, or any number of other quips. But as Applejack picked her way through the remains of the sticky mesh that Dash had plowed through in her haste, she simply found herself asking, "Dash? You ain't hurt, are ya?"
"Nah, I'm fine," replied Rainbow. "But this guy keeps bugging me, " she said, indicating a very large brown tarantula, with an abdomen the size of a side plate, slowly stalking its way along one of the silken strands from the cave ceiling above and to her right. "I think he thinks I'm his next snack or something." As the spider came too close, Dash swiped at it with a forehoof, giving the creepy-crawly a firm smack across the chops – "I said buzz off already!" – and sending it scuttling abashedly to the safety of the rocky ceiling to plan its next, identical excursion. "So, how's about getting me down?" she asked Applejack impatiently.
"I'm gettin' to that," said Applejack, finally clearing a path for herself and stepping in front of Rainbow. Dash was still wearing her Stetson and she considered retrieving it, but thanks to the web it was now rather glued to her friend's head as opposed to perched on it, and trying to get it off was likely going to be as painful as pulling off a plaster. The webbing around Dash herself wasn't that strong, it was just the sheer number of threads that she had blundered into that had overwhelmed her and picked her off the floor. A good stiff pull ought to be enough to...
Applejack stopped her survey of her tangled friend when she realised that Dash had stiffened slightly, and was holding her breath. Rainbow's eyes involuntarily flicked from Applejack to something behind her, and it was only after Applejack looked around that, with a rush of annoyance, she realised why.
She was standing in front of Rainbow, and behind her, no more than ten paces away and shrouded in thick black shadow, was the rear wall of the cave. The finish line. The title of Most Awesome Pony. Almost within touching distance. And every time Applejack looked like she might be about to move toward it, Dash subconsciously flinched very slightly.
"I don't believe it," said Applejack with a scowl, her temper suddenly simmering. "Yer still thinkin' about this dumb race, aintcha?!"
"Well, duh! Isn't that why we're here?" Then suddenly, a look of disappointment crossed Dash's face and she gazed at the ground. "Guess you win, huh?"
Applejack couldn't stop her anger from running away. Her teeth clenched and her blood boiled with an irrational rage that had come from nowhere. After everything they'd been through that day... after she'd been worried about her! No, all Dash cared about was winning. Beating her. Getting one over on her. She didn't care about anything else, did she? "You know what, Dash? Fine! "
Applejack stepped back behind Dash, and with no warning seized her tail in her teeth two-thirds of the way along and gave a hard, swift yank. The webbing around Rainbow Dash was torn from the cave walls, and the pegasus was unceremoniously pulled to the floor with a loud, dull thud.
"Go ahead, Dash! If this race is all you care about, then go on an' win! Call yourself the Most Awesome Pony, if that's what's important to ya!" Applejack spun and marched towards the cave entrance, leaving Rainbow to disentangle herself from the remains of the webbing.
And win. And beat her. Like she'd wanted from the start.
* * *
Dusk had crept silently over the world when Applejack left the cave. She walked a few paces into the clearing leaving the opening at her back and, facing the treeline, she sat.
She hung her head and closed her eyes. Her anger faded quickly, washed away by a stream of melancholy that seemed to bleed from whatever wound she had just opened. For long moments she concentrated on nothing except breathing in and out. She felt a pair of forlorn tears escape, but she paid them no heed. She was just waiting for the salt now, and Dash would relish rubbing it in.
It was gonna sting something fierce.
After a minute, quiet hoofsteps approached from behind. Applejack raised her head high and blinked away her tears. She sniffed sharply and braced herself for the coming ordeal.
"Go ahead, Dash. Just... just make it quick, would ya?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean," said Applejack, not looking round. "The braggin'. We both know it's gonna happen. Just... get it over with. Say what you're gonna say and then maybe we can go back to..." being friends? "...Ponyville."
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Dash said with a smirk, raising a hoof theatrically to her ear. "Sounded like you wanna go double-or-quits back to Ponyville? Sure, I'm game!"
"Stop it, Dash!" snapped Applejack, her ears flicking with annoyance. "You said yourself, this was it! The final. The decider. Your be-all-and-end-all of races! Well, guess what? You won! I lost! So, congratulations. You're the best at everything, and me? I guess I don't even amount to a hill o' beans," she finished as her head hung once more. She was trying to get it over with. Why did Dash have to drag this out? New tears threatened.
"Sure. Until we come up with a new decider, that is!"
Applejack's anger rose further. She couldn't believe it. Rainbow wanted to repeat this? To put her through this and worse, just to prove again and again just how superior she was!? Her rage reached a fever pitch and then, in the next instant... it was gone. Replaced by a strange wave of calm and a sudden, tragic clarity.
Applejack spoke softly. "You know what, Rainbow? If all you really care about is showing how much better than me you are... reminding me that all I'm good for is plowin' dirt, then... fine. But me? Well... I don't reckon I need a friend like that." She stood and, without looking back, began to walk slowly into the pine trees.
"AJ?"
"Goodbye, Dash," she said as she wandered into the treeline. She'd almost said, 'See ya around,' but, in all honesty, she didn't think she'd be seeing Rainbow much at all anymore.
The treeline ended about fifty yards from the north edge of the plateau, leaving a wide surface of plain, flat rock. Applejack sat alone on the cold ground near the edge, her campfire at her back and the treeline beyond that. She cast a solitary figure as she gazed out northwards over the ravine, the woods, and the river, homewards towards the distant, familiar lights of late-evening Ponyville.
It had been too dark to consider descending the mountain and it looked like she would have to travel miles to circumvent the ravine, so she had reluctantly come to accept she would be spending the night up here, by herself. The thicket of trees provided ample twigs, dry branches and big rocks for a fire pit, and by improvising the basic tools she'd got a good, warm blaze going.
The sky overhead faded to black. Hundreds of perfect stars appeared in the heavens, joined by a moon that was but a sliver of a waxing crescent. The air was biting cold but her fire kept her warm, and while she didn't have all the comforts of home, she was at least comfortable.
The peaceful, darkened landscape before her was still, quiet and beautiful, but she couldn't find it in herself to appreciate it. As much as she tried to tear her focus away, her thoughts always returned to the same subject.
Rainbow Dash.
She'd always believed that she and Rainbow Dash were friends first, friendly rivals a distant second. But after today, it was fairly clear that Dash just didn't see things like that. Rainbow Dash saw everything they did together as a contest she had to win; a way to prove how she was better than Applejack in every meaningful way. Now that she had demonstrated her total superiority with this final race-of-races, Rainbow wouldn't need to hang round with Applejack anymore, and Applejack was just fine with that.
Except... Applejack wasn't just fine with that. She so wanted to be. She should be. After all, why would she want to be around someone who only wanted to make her feel second-rate all the time?
But somehow, she really, really wasn't just fine with never seeing Rainbow Dash again.
Soft steps approached from behind her and Applejack's reverie faded. The owner lingered awkwardly, but Applejack couldn't bring herself to look round.
"I brought your hat back. So, there," came Dash's voice. Then there was a quiet whump as something soft was dropped to the ground behind her, near the fire.
"Surprised you're still here," said Applejack neutrally, still looking towards Ponyville.
"Yeah, well, it's taking ages to get all of that spider-gunk off my feathers."
Nothing else was said for long moments, and after a couple of awkward minutes Dash's steps began to recede, back towards the treeline, away from the fire.
"Dash?" said Applejack, looking round finally. "You... got enough firewood over there?"
"Yes!" snapped Rainbow Dash haughtily, and defensively. "I've got tons of it! I've got more firewood than I know what to do with! Enough for a fire twice this size! Don't worry about me , Applejack. I'll be just fine!"
Applejack scowled to herself. Looking back out at the landscape once more she took a deep breath and let it out, forcing the frown away. "It was just a question, Dash." Her head drooped. "Guess even your fire's gotta be better than mine, huh?" she murmured. She didn't say anything else, and after a few uncertain moments, Dash's hoofsteps faded as she finally walked back towards the trees in the direction of the cave and all was quiet once more.
The solitary silence lingered for long minutes, until a faint, freezing breeze suggested to Applejack that she leave the edge of the plateau and return to her campfire.
Her hat was there, resting against the hollow log that she'd appropriated for a seat. Rainbow had cleaned the cobwebs all off, and it looked just like it always had. It didn't even seem to have taken any damage in the fall. She picked it up with her teeth and flipped it atop her head with a practised, fluent motion. And as it found its seat, Applejack found a smile. It was like welcoming an old friend home.
She had her hat back, thanks to Rainbow Dash.
Her smile faded bitterly...
Rainbow Dash. Who put her through agony that morning with her damn chillies. Who left a big mess on her lawn and scarpered when it was time to clean up. Who borrowed Rarity's best dish and left Applejack to face the music when it got damaged. Who just laughed at her when she was stuck, who never said 'thank you', and who only seemed to want Applejack around so she could beat her at everything . Who...
Who...
Who loved playing with Winona, and who rubbed her belly when she wanted attention. Who'd wrestled so frantically to find the end of that hosepipe, but then pushed it towards Applejack so she could drink first. Who had laughed and joked with her on that first run from Ponyville. Who'd looked so scared in the river, and then so relieved – so confident – when she'd seen Applejack right there on the shore. Who saved her from tumbling into the ravine, and who'd watched over her and kept her talking on the climb up the cliff face, to take her mind off the fall. Who found her hat at the bottom of a chasm, and brought it back good as new.
How could they both be the same pony?
And the strange thing was... Applejack had let Dash goad her into eating those painful chillis. She'd covered for her with Rarity because she didn't want to see her in trouble. She'd run off with her on a foolhardy race deep into the wilderness without even telling another soul where she was going. These were not the kinds of things things she did! But she did them because... well, because Rainbow Dash.
Because they were friends. Because in spite of everything, and for some, unfathomable reason, being with Rainbow Dash made her happy in a way that nothing else quite did. And that one shining realisation was enough to pierce the fog of anger that had descended. She really wasn't okay with never seeing Rainbow Dash again, and the outcome of one silly race couldn't be allowed to break up their friendship. With a grimace, she stood and turned for the treeline. It wouldn't be pleasant: she would have to put up with the gloating, the smugness, the 'look who's come crawling back' speech... but it was worth it. Rainbow Dash was her friend.
Applejack picked her way carefully through the dark copse of trees, back towards the cave. As she approached, she caught a faint, almost whispering sound, staggered and irregular. It got louder as she drew closer, and just before she reached the edge of the copse, she saw why.
A dozen feet from the mouth of the cave, Dash had constructed her own fire-pit and filled it with all manner of logs, wood and kindling. And that was as far as she'd got. Even in the dim light Applejack could see the stressed marks on the bark where Dash had frantically tried just rubbing pieces together to produce a flame, and failed. One of the branches was even broken in two; snapped in frustration and hurled into the dead fire-pit. Dash had been telling the truth: she really did have more wood than she knew what to do with.
She was there. Curled up into a tight ball in the bitterly cold night air, right next to the fire-pit as though the intention to build a fire might in some way count towards the heat provided by one. Her eyes were scrunched shut, her teeth chattered badly, and her whole body shook with powerful shivers and ragged, desperate breaths.
She was freezing. She couldn't get warm. And it was only going to get colder.
Applejack stepped out of the trees towards Dash's failed campfire. When Dash didn't seem to hear her approach, she sat next to her and gave her a gentle nudge. "C'mon, Dash. You ain't staying here."
Dash finally opened her eyes and looked up at her. Her stare found a defiant edge. "What? I'm doing fine here!"
Applejack just smiled. "I never said you weren't," she said honestly. "Come on, Dash. Please? Warm fire's waitin'. Don't make me drag ya."
Rainbow Dash smirked back. "Ha. I'd like to see you try." Then she stood and dusted herself down. "But, y'know, I'm kinda tired. I was sorta in a race today so...?" She risked a quick, uncertain glance at Applejack, but she needn't have been worried. Applejack stood, turned, and led Dash back to her campsite.
* * *
Applejack watched as Dash gladly warmed herself by the fire. The cold seemed to have seeped into her very bones and it took her a long time to excise it all, even sitting so close to the flame that she was almost in it. She kept her wings flared to capture as much of the heat as possible and, not-so-surprisingly, there was no trace at all of the sticky cobwebbing that Dash had implied was keeping her grounded. Applejack gave a hidden smile at that: Dash could have left for home anytime she'd wanted, but instead she'd stayed. And as the slow relief washed over Rainbow's face, Applejack felt a sense of happy contentment spreading. That good feeling – the feeling that seeing Dash safe and comfortable and here was just instinctively right – was proof enough that their friendship might be dented, but it wasn't ruined just yet.
Applejack didn't say anything. She didn't need to. She lay on her back, head propped up onto the hollow log like a pillow, and simply stargazed for a bit while Dash finished warming up.
When Rainbow was finally done, she quietly walked over and sat next to her. With a curious expression, Dash followed her gaze into the sky and, finding nothing of interest, looked around awkwardly. Then, finally, back to Applejack. "What are you even looking at up there?"
Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "Really? You never look up at the stars, Dash?"
"No. Well, not really. I guess I'm always up there looking down instead. Guess I've never really needed to look up before."
Applejack just nodded silently and continued to scan the beautiful, perfect sky, her eyes flicking from star to star, constellation to constellation as they always did, a little smile playing on her lips. Rainbow Dash looked down at her, confused. Then she dropped and lay on her back, propping her own head against the far end of the log, and began to look up at the sky too.
"So? Whaddya see, Dash?"
After a few moments, Dash replied. "Uh... nothing? I mean, they're just white dots."
Applejack just gave a little chuckle and said nothing.
"Why?" asked Dash. "What do you see?"
Applejack's faint smile grew a little, never taking her eyes off the stars. "Everypony. Everypony I care about is up there somewhere."
Dash looked across to her and quirked an eyebrow. "Uh... what?"
Applejack took a breath. "Well, when you got a family as big as mine, it helps to have a way to keep track of 'em all. So, when I was little, I put 'em in the stars. Then as time went on I started puttin' all my other friends up there too. Oh, I know they all got fancy, real names n' such, but to me... well..." she paused, and pointed a hoof at the sky almost directly above them. "You see that kinda hourglass lookin' shape, and those three stars across the middle? That's Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, off doin' some crazy fool thing no doubt." She pointed at another section of sky. "That one up there's Big McIntosh... he hangs out a little closer to Cheerilee than he used to. Then you got Apple Fritter, Golden Delicious, Braeburn and so on. Sometimes... I see mom and dad up there, too. They pass by once in a while. Just checking to make sure I'm still doin' okay."
"Riiiight..." said Dash uncertainly. Applejack had heard that tone many times before. Dash was bored, but trying to be tactful about it. She turned her head to look at her pegasus friend, and Dash looked back, still with that little confused expression.
Applejack sat herself up on her haunches and looked out directly north, towards Ponyville. With a hoof she pointed out the large, bright star in the sky above it. "You see that one?"
Dash sat up to look. "Yeah, that's the North Star. I know that one."
Applejack looked at the star. "That one's Rainbow Dash."
The confused face vanished into surprise, and Dash's gaze suddenly fixed itself on the star in the sky.
"She's a real bright star," Applejack continued softly. "One of the brightest there is. She's where everypony can always see her, and that's just how she likes it. But... she's also kinda by herself, too. Ain't no other stars that are really that close to her, but then she'd just tell ya she don't need 'em. She'd say she's just fine up there, on her own. Alone." Applejack paused a moment, then moved her hoof a little to a small, nondescript star at the tail end of the little dipper; the closest star in the sky to Polaris . "That one there?" she said. "That's Applejack." She paused again, looking at her own, familiar star in the heavens. "You can look, but you won't find any star up there closer to Rainbow Dash than Applejack. And maybe Applejack don't shine as bright as some o' them high-falutin' important stars... but she'd rather be there than anywhere else in the whole sky. Close by, just in case Rainbow Dash ever decides she needs help, or wants someone to talk to. " She smiled. "An' she'll be there for a real long time, even if Rainbow Dash don't notice."
Dash continued to stare. Then after a moment she said, "Cool, I guess." And that was it. She looked briefly back to Applejack with a neutral face, and then lay down again, on her side this time, facing away.
Applejack let out a silent breath and shook her head softly. Never mind. She lay down herself and closed her eyes.
After they day she'd had, sleep came instantly.
* * *
She woke from a restful but dreamless sleep. Only a couple of hours seemed to have passed and it was still the middle of the night. Automatically she looked over towards Dash, only to find her gone. A flash of surprise took her and she jolted upright, scanning around.
Rainbow Dash was over there beyond the low but still-warm fire, sat with her back to Applejack, near the edge of the precipice and looking out at the northern sky. Applejack got up and slowly walked over to her. She sat quietly beside her and followed her gaze. "You lookin' at the stars for once?"
"Not all of 'em," said Dash. Then a brief, stilted pause. "I was just thinking about what you said. About how Applejack is always there for Rainbow Dash. It was kinda cool." There was another awkward pause as Dash looked down at the ground in front of her. "Then I was thinking about how Applejack doesn't know if it works the other way, and that wasn't so cool." Dash gave a little confused frown. She worked her mouth for a couple of moments. It was like there were words that she wanted to say, but her brain couldn't decide on what they might be.
"Dash?" Applejack asked gently after a moment. "I... need the truth from ya. I can't promise I ain't gonna be disappointed or upset, but... I gotta know. Why? This whole race? Is it just so you can prove you're better than me? Is that all I am to ya? Somepony you like to beat?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head slightly. The confused frown deepened into a frustrated one. Then she looked back up at the sky and her face suddenly relaxed. She looked sadly at Applejack, then finally back at the floor. "I... I can't pay you back."
"Huh?"
"The five bits. For Rarity," said Dash, quietly. "I will, I swear. But... I don't have any money right now."
"Dash, if you need–"
"It was those peppers, you know?" she interrupted. "Heh. I wasn't kidding when I said they were super-rare. They cost me everything I had this month. You... you wanna know why?" Applejack cocked her head slightly, but Rainbow just carried on looking at the ground. "Because I needed two. "
That little confused frown reappeared. Dash clearly wanted say more than she was saying, but she was frustrated that the words just weren't there. She looked back to the sky, toward the bright north star and took a deep, slightly shaky breath. "You're right, y'know. That is Rainbow Dash. All bright and by herself up there. That's who she is – who she's always been. But..." She blinked something away. "That's not who she wants to be," she almost whispered.
Rainbow Dash's eyes had started to water now, though she made a commendable effort of not letting on. "You know, after Pinkie Pie found out she was related to you, she was so happy it was all she talked about for two weeks. I actually got kinda jealous. I guess, 'cuz I always thought... I mean, I wanted..." She stole a quick, hesitant glance at Applejack, then her gaze found a point on the floor in front of her. "You're really lucky you know? To have such a great family? You got a whole sky full of ponies who'd be there for you no matter what. I... I always wondered what that was like. My sky's pretty empty."
"What? Dash, you've got a family ," said Applejack. "You've got friends ."
"Sure, now I do. And I've got a mom and a dad, and they're great. But growing up... I was always sorta on my own. I never had anyone close like a brother or a sister who was always there. No-one I could really talk to. Never really had any close friends either. I mean, I met Fluttershy in flight school... right before I got kicked out, and then I was on my own again. After that, Gilda was pretty much the only friend I ever made, but... well she wasn't the sort of friend like I could tell a secret to or something: she'd say that stuff was lame. And besides, we all know how that ended." Dash took a breath and scratched absently at the ground with a hoof. "Then I moved to Ponyville, and it was just the same. Lotsa nice ponies sure, but when they saw how awesome I was... I just ended up by myself again." Her face brightened with a little, wistful smile. "Except there was this one pony. She seemed to get me. Like we'd been best friends since always. We started doing stuff together and hanging out, and it was amazing. It was like I finally knew what it was like to have a..." Rainbow Dash trailed off, losing confidence in the sentence before it was out. She looked back to the sky, except instead of north, her longing gaze fixed on a pair of bright stars above her and to the west.
Gemini .
"Guess I just wanted to know what it was like," she whispered quietly, under her breath. Then she looked forlornly back at the lonesome north star. "She'd never admit it... but Rainbow Dash really isn't okay all by herself. And she does notice that Applejack's always there. And she's really sorry if she made Applejack feel like she wasn't awesome. Rainbow Dash just wanted an excuse to spend time with her on her day off, and maybe got a little carried away. She does that. She didn't mean anything by it, and she'd never want Applejack to think she wasn't there for her too. She totally is. Because Applejack's the closest thing Rainbow Dash ever had to a sss..." She trailed off again, then clenched her teeth and frowned, frustrated at her own inability to say the word.
"A sister?" prompted Applejack softly, causing Dash to look up and meet her gaze.
"Yeah. What you said." Dash looked away, abashed.
Applejack smiled. Then movement overhead caught her attention. A pair of white streaks in the heavens; shooting stars passing from east to west, and leaving long silver trails glittering straight through Gemini . Her smile grew. She wasn't going to get a better endorsement than that, and she looked warmly back to the pegasus. "They'd have really liked you, Dash. Mom and dad. Nothing would'a made 'em happier than you and me growing up as sisters together. But even though we didn't, well... you've been part of my family since the day I met ya. Heck, ya sure act like it. So the way I see it, if Pinkie Pie wants to call herself part of the Apple family, then there ain't no reason you can't too. And I'd feel right proud if ya did."
For a long moment Dash looked at the floor and didn't say anything, just letting a happy, contented smile play on her lips. Then, for an instant there was a tiny glint in her eye and she looked up, quickly putting on an expression of mock horror. "Me? Why should I have to move? Why don't you come over to the Dash -side?"
Applejack met her gaze with a relaxed, cocky smirk. "My side comes with free apples, Rainbow. You want in or not?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes, finally finding her traditional little self-sure grin. She stood and rounded the fire, taking herself back to the hollow log. She flopped onto her back once more, head propped up, staring at Gemini in the heavens. "Rainbow Apple Dash," she said at length, turning the words over in her mouth. "I kinda like it. Ooh, plus, my initials would spell 'RAD' . How cool is that?"
"You'll have to get used to bein' related to Pinkie too," Applejack warned, settling herself back down next to her with her own grin.
Dash actually chuckled at that. "Heh. Yeah. She is so random. Like, did I ever tell you about the time she invited me over to make cupcakes?"
Applejack shook her head slightly. "Nope."
"Yeah, she says she's got this new 'secret ingredient' to try out and she needs my help with it. So I fly on over there and... well, it got pretty messy."
Applejack raised an eyebrow and looked over at Dash. "What happened?"
"Ugh, we ended up with cake mix everywhere . Like... an explosion of eggs and flour and sugar, and no matter what we did it just got worse! We never got one edible cupcake out of it."
Applejack chuckled. "Well, you ain't the only one to have a bad baking experience with Pinkie. Guess that's somethin' else we got in common." She returned her gaze to the stars. Gemini . She was going to have to find somewhere else to put Celestia and Luna, but they'd be okay. It was a big sky after all, though it might have to wait. She felt her eyes getting heavy and sleep beckoned once more.
Beside her, Dash broke into a wide, tired yawn, her own eyelids drooping. Then she blinked as a thought seemed to occur. "Hey, Applejack?" she asked softly, her sleepy eyes still on the sky. "I did say that I think you're awesome, right? I mean, I think you're way more special than just a hill of beans. Probably like, almost two hills of beans or something, but... at some point back there, I did actually tell you that...?"
Applejack smiled through her own, stifled yawn. "Yeah, Dash. I got the message."
"Oh, good." she said, finally settling herself down, turning onto her side and facing away.
Applejack did the same, but just as her eyes closed a stray thought struck her. "Hey, Dash?" she asked quietly.
"Hmm?" came the voice from behind her.
"What was it? The secret ingredient."
"Pineapple."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Blech. So. Random."
Applejack grinned. "G'night, Dash."
The morning sun shone its warm golden rays down into a bright, clear spring day, and onto the two peaceful ponies sleeping beneath. The clean scent of fresh pine carried on the cold breeze and birds chirped happily in the copse as Applejack, warm and content, reluctantly left sleep behind and returned to the world once more.
She gave a stretch and a protracted, undignified noise somewhere between a moan and a grunt, noting in the meantime that there was something wrong with the way her back was moving, as though some soft, warm weight were pressing on it from behind. Her smile grew as she relaxed from her stretch and she cozied down, pulling her warm, thick covers up a little higher, determined to have another hour in–
"Ouch! Hey, careful!"
Applejack's eyes snapped open to find that she wasn't in bed at home. Instead she was laid on her side on the hard, rocky ground of the plateau, using a log for a pillow. And yet, for all that, she was surprisingly comfortable.
She looked down at the blanket she'd tugged on to find it wasn't there. Instead, draped cosily over her middle was a wonderfully warm blue wing covered in luxuriously soft, downy feathers. The remainder of Rainbow Dash's body was snugged against her from behind, her belly against Applejack's back and the rest curled around her as best as she could manage, with Dash's chin resting gently on the back of her neck.
Applejack let her head drop back to the log and just enjoyed the feeling of her friend cuddled up against her for a moment, allowing sleep to recede naturally. Then, after a few seconds, she spoke up. "Uh, Rainbow? Is there somethin' I should know?"
Rainbow raised her head from Applejack's neck slightly, just to allow her jaw to work more easily. "The fire went out about two hours ago. You started shivering in your sleep. I had to keep you warm, so..."
Applejack smiled. "Thanks, Dash."
"Told you I'd be there for you," said Rainbow softly, resting her head once more.
"I never said you weren't," Applejack riposted playfully. "So, this is strictly a survival thing?"
"Yep. Just like Daring Do would have done. Body heat and such."
"Uh-huh," said Applejack, nodding sagely. "Well, we'd best get up then, I guess."
"Yeah yeah," said Dash faintly, nuzzling into the back of Applejack's neck, hugging her a little tighter. "Just... in a sec, okay?"
Applejack grinned a grin that Rainbow Dash couldn't see. "You know, if you'd woken me up, I could'a got the fire going again," she teased.
There was a split-second pause. Then, "Whatever, shut up. This is good too."
They lay together for a few long minutes, peaceful and happy and comfortable until at last, by unspoken agreement, and with no small measure of reluctance, they separated, roused and stood.
Having failed to remove her Stetson before sleep, it had fallen off in the night. Seeing it nestled against the other side of the log, Applejack stooped and picked it up, dusting it off and turning it over in her hooves, just looking at it. "Y'know, Dash... I never said thank you for findin' this, and giving it back," she said.
Dash winced a subtle, annoyed wince and looked around self-consciously at nothing in particular. "Yeah, sure, whatever."
Applejack looked up. She raised a deliberate eyebrow in Rainbow's direction.
Rainbow Dash looked back at her with a faint frown. "Look, you gotta stop thanking me for stuff, okay? It feels... weird."
Applejack put a little confused frown on. This, coming from the pony who never said it? "Whaddya mean, 'weird'?"
"I mean weird . I mean, 'Thanks' is what you say to that pony on the train who lets you have the seat next to them. It's what you say when somepony stops you to give you back something you dropped. 'Thanks' is what ponies who aren't best friends say to each other when one does something nice the other didn't expect. When you say thanks it's like you're surprised or something." Dash was scowling at her now, but beyond that her eyes had turned serious and her gaze meaningful. "I mean, you didn't really think I wasn't gonna give it back..." Her scowl dropped and just for a moment, a worried look appeared. "You didn't... did you?"
"No," Applejack admitted. "I guess not."
"Exactly! Just like I'd never leave you hanging on the side of a cliff. Or leave you stuck in a mud-hole. Or let you freeze solid in the night. And just like you wouldn't either. That's just what we do for each other, right? So what are you thanking me for?" Her expression softened. "You get it, don't you? It's not like I'm ungrateful that you stuck up for me with Rarity. Or that you pulled me out of that river. Or got me down from the epic spider web of doom. It's just, I know for a cold, hard fact that if there's one pony out there who's always got my back no matter what... it's you. So why would I act all surprised when you totally come through for me?"
Applejack stared at Dash and rolled her jaw. For the first time, she got an inkling of where Rainbow Dash was coming from... and surprised herself by deciding it made sense. When was the last time she'd traded gratitude with Big Mac for something he'd done for her? Or Apple Bloom or Granny Smith for something she'd done for them? She didn't, really. Family took care of each other. Without pleases. Without thank-you's. That was just what you did when you were family, because you loved and cared about each other and wanted each other to be happy. The gratitude might be implicit, but it was still very real. The words themselves were redundant.
She was as close to Rainbow Dash as she was to any of her family, and even as that thought formed, she slowly realised just what Dash was telling her: that she would do anything for her without hesitation, and what's more, Applejack could expect everything from her without asking. Even including ridiculously dangerous acts of life-saving bravery. And that she knew the feeling was mutual. Applejack would do anything for Rainbow Dash, and that came as no surprise to the pegasus. They were just that close. They were family.
She smiled. It was odd, wasn't it? There was nothing like being taken for granted to make you feel appreciated.
"I don't know why you're so obsessed with that thing anyway," Rainbow griped, nodding at her hat when Applejack made no reply. "I know you've got a whole closet full of spares."
Applejack flipped the hat onto her head with her easy, practised motion and seated it firmly in place. "Spares or not, there ain't no substitute for the original," she said. She met Dash's gaze. "I'm really glad to have it back, Dash."
"Ugh," Dash rolled her eyes deliberately. "Don't mention it. Seriously ."
Applejack chuckled. "Okay, okay, I get it. You win," she said, finally walking towards the precipice and looking out towards home. Ponyville glowed like a distant beacon under the sun's touch this morning. "Well, guess we'd best get a move on before it gets too late in... Dash?"
Rainbow was still behind her, near the dead fire, looking pointedly back towards the thicket of pine trees and the cave beyond it. "I win? " she breathed. She turned her head to look back at Applejack. "You know, we came all this way. I think we at least have to do what we came here for."
"Huh?" asked Applejack, surprised. "Are you tellin' me, after all that talk about you, 'not wantin' to win by forfeit,' that you never even finished the race?!"
"Well excuse me, alright?!" said Dash defensively, "Pretty much my best friend ever had just started yelling at me, and then stormed off looking really upset. I kinda had more important things to think about!" She looked back towards the cave, and then back to Applejack. "You wanna?"
Applejack looked towards the direction of the cave beyond the copse. Then back to Rainbow with a smile. Maybe this was something they could finish as friends – rather than as rivals – after all.
"Sure."
* * *
They made their way through the pines, past Rainbow's failed campsite from the previous night, and stood before the cave side by side. With the sun now well up, its light shone a fair distance into the opening where it caught and glinted from various small crystals of quartz and salt lining the cave walls.
"Didn't you say that nopony who's entered this cave is ever supposed to have come out again?" asked Applejack.
"Uh... I think so," said Dash, with an uncertain expression.
"'Think so?'"
"Well, when I asked Twilight about it yesterday, she said it was that, 'everypony who'd gone in was still in there somewhere.'" She looked at Applejack. "That's the same thing, right?"
"I guess," said Applejack.
"Besides, we've already proved the legend wrong either way, haven't we?"
"Right," said Applejack. She stepped towards the cave and entered it with Rainbow Dash at her side.
With the light of day, the interior of the cave was much less foreboding than the previous night. The back wall was still cloaked in shadow as the light did eventually fade, but once they reached it their night-vision would take over. The two ponies advanced slowly, picking their way carefully around and over the series of silken webs strung across the cave tunnel; the half-repaired life's work of a poor, industrious tarantula currently cowering within a crevice in the cave wall, hoping that the two monsters would pass by without ruining its masterpiece again.
Then the far wall was there in front of them, their eyes beginning to adjust to the gloom this far back. It was a different material than the granite of the rest of the cave; lighter in colour and softer, as though it were soft limestone or hard chalk, part of a larger seam running through the mountain no doubt.
Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. And smiled. "Go ahead, Dash."
Dash looked back with an exaggerated, offended expression. "Me? "
"C'mon, Dash. Most Awesome Pony? That's what you really want, right? To prove yer the best? Well, it's right there. Go on, I ain't gonna be all fuddy-duddy," she reassured. "Long as you promise not to start gloatin' too much."
"Yeah, I don't think so," said Dash. Then she put on a sincere look. "Maybe being the most awesome pony... isn't as important to me as being something else." She glanced at the wall, then back to her. "Wanna do it together?"
Applejack paused a moment, then nodded. She raised a forehoof and Dash mirrored her.
"Okay," said Dash. "Three... two... oh, one second,"
Applejack instinctively reached out and tapped the wall, expecting Rainbow to do the same. When Dash didn't, she looked horrified for a moment, until she saw Rainbow's grin. "Dash! You did that on purpose!"
"Yeah, maybe." Dash's grin grew. Then she gave a little shrug. "Oh well, now we're just gonna have to find something else we can... oh... wow," she said, suddenly indicating the wall in front of them. "Look." Applejack turned to look at the rock face.
Now that her eyes were fully adjusted, she could see that carved into the soft limestone surface were a series of pictograms. Maybe a dozen or so, of various sizes and complexities, dotted haphazardly around the wall itself with no apparent pattern. "Cave drawings?" she guessed.
"Looks like," said Rainbow from beside her. "Why is there never an egghead around when you need one?"
"These could'a been here for thousands of years," said Applejack in awe, her eyes scanning the images. She made out a sun, a moon, a group of three stars joined by a spiral, a compass... a thorned flower? An... hourglass? Why would ancient cave-ponies carve those? How would they even...?
Oh.
"Dash... they're cutie-marks," Applejack breathed. "Ponies' cutie-marks. Maybe the cutie-marks of every pony who's ever come lookin' for this cave. Like, a signature or somethin'," she reasoned, her eyes scanning the symbols. Celestia. Luna. Maybe Starswirl? Daring Do...? "
"Oh, I get it," said Dash in sudden realisation. "That legend. It's one of those... uh... things . Where it's true, but not like you think it is."
"A metaphor," Applejack offered.
"Gesundhoof," Rainbow responded.
The flier regarded the wall for a moment longer, then stooped and picked up a pointed rock from the ground, gripping it in her teeth. With a deliberate look at Applejack's flank, she pressed the tip to the crumbling surface of the wall, and slowly, carefully, began to carve a trio of apples.
Taking her cue, Applejack found her own rock on the floor and set to her own task, carving a cloud and lightning bolt, doing her best to get the curves right. It certainly helped that her point of reference was right there next to her.
It took only a minute, and then it was done. Applejack and Rainbow Dash's cutie-marks added to the wall, side by side. Two friends, together for all of eternity to come.
With a final, wordless look, they both turned and headed for the exit.
They emerged into the bright sunshine once more, walking slowly for the treeline, and the precipice beyond.
Applejack looked at Dash. Dash looked back at Applejack. Applejack smiled. "Just so we're clear, Dash. I ain't claimin' I won that."
"No?" said Dash with a grin. "But you didn't lose either. So... we tied?"
"Tied," Applejack confirmed, her own grin growing.
They emerged onto the cliff-top and made their way to the edge, looking out over the valley, towards Ponyville in the distance. Then Applejack fixed her gaze on the gorge below them, trying to gauge how far it ran. "Looks like it gets narrower about two or three miles that way," she said, pointing over to the west. "We might be able to find a way across."
"Uh... hello?" said Dash from beside her, prompting her to look round. Dash stood with her wings flared, flapping the tips deliberately, her face relaxed into an easy smile.
"Oh. Right."
Dash gave the requisite two-second pause. Then, "Well? Aren't you going to ask?" She grinned.
Applejack found her own cocky grin once more and firmly met Rainbow's gaze. "I'm waitin' for you to offer."
Rainbow rolled her eyes, then knelt down and nodded towards her back. Applejack climbed on, taking care not to impede the movement of Dash's wings. She settled herself comfortably and wrapped her hooves around the pegasus' belly, hugging her close.
"Okay, hold on tight," said Dash. She spread her wings and galloped for the cliff-edge. A flash of instinctive fear took Applejack as she saw the drop race towards her, but she steeled herself, breathed deeply and hugged her friend a little tighter. And by the time they reached the edge, there was no fear at all.
She was safe. She took it for granted.
They careered off the edge of the cliff, Rainbow Dash's wings catching the warm air and gliding. Then beating twice, powerfully, carrying them aloft. Two ponies, sailing effortlessly through the air in the midmorning sun, carried towards distant Ponyville and home.
Applejack rested her head against her friend's neck, feeling safe and secure on Dash's back as she bore them leisurely northwards. There would be other challenges, she knew. Other races, or dares, or 'deciders.' And she looked forward to them. After all, she thought with a grin, they were still rivals.
But they were friends first. Family even. Rainbow Dash would always be there for her, just as she would always be there for Rainbow Dash.
And this she knew to be true above all else.
Epilogue: A Bajillion Apples
The warm morning found Applejack walking tentatively behind Winona among the rows of trees in the East Orchard, the unkempt grass of the fields tickling her hooves.
It had been a little over two weeks since the plateau, and Applejack hadn't seen much of Rainbow Dash since. She'd been busy. Though, three days afterwards she'd noticed a crumpled envelope had been shoved hastily through her letterbox, and when she'd opened it... she'd found it contained five bits.
Curiously, this morning—the morning of her first free day since then—Winona was acting very strangely. She had begun by bounding into her bedroom, demanding playtime as usual. But when Applejack had taken her outside, instead of playing she had led her straight to the East Field, and into it.
Winona walked slowly, nose in the grass, but stopping every so often to snuffle for something. And it took Applejack a little while to realise just what was going on.
She was eating biscuits.
Somepony had laid a trail of biscuits through the orchard for Winona to follow. And once Applejack realised what was happening, a little involuntary grin touched her lips.
Winona led her to a particularly tall apple tree—one the Apple family colloquially knew as 'Grandfather'—its knarled branches thick with fresh, spring leaves and concealing anything that might be hidden up there. Her smile grew.
“Winona? Reckon I'm gonna be a mite busy for a bit. Why don’t ya go find Big Mac or Apple Bloom to play with fer a while?” she said.
Winona’s ears perked, her tongue panted, her tail wagged, and she was away like a shot, eager to obey—especially if it meant more playtime and biscuits!
Applejack approached the tree and, raising a forehoof, she knocked three times on the trunk, as though she were at the door to a house. “Come out. I know yer up there.”
A rustling in the branches above attracted her attention and, sure enough, in short order a familiar cyan pony peered down from high in the boughs. She stood on a thick branch two thirds of the way up, poised with perfect balance. Rainbow Dash looked down with her usual grin. Smug, and cocky... and happy. Then, with a little mischievous glint in her eye she said,
“Prove it.”
It took Applejack a moment to work out what she meant. Then, when it hit her, she gave her own grin, determined and confident.
Applejack reared up onto her hindlegs and jumped, wrapping her forehooves around a low branch above her. Then, swinging the rest of her body upwards she managed to get a hindleg onto it and pulled herself up. With a balance and skill that could only come from practice, she stood on the thin branch and poised herself perfectly. Then she repeated the process again, rearing and jumping and reaching a higher branch. Then again. And again. Until she was finally stood confidently on the same branch as Rainbow Dash, her breathing a little heavy.
It had been a while. Way too long, in fact. She’d forgotten how exhilarating it was to just climb . She firmly met Dash’s gaze. “Ha! Told ya! I can climb trees with the best of ‘em!”
Dash returned a warm, simple smile. No trace of smugness anymore, though she gave no other sign that she was impressed. She settled herself, leaning back against the tree-trunk, and then Applejack lay down, her belly on the branch, her hindlegs dangling either side, and her forelegs under her chin.
“I’ve got something for you,” said Rainbow. Then she craned her neck to fish something out from beneath her wing, and returned with a scrap of parchment grasped in her teeth.
Applejack raised an eyebrow but took the paper and unfolded it.
Written on the parchment, in what was unmistakably Dash’s hoofwriting;
I.O.U. One bajillion apples -R.D.
Applejack chuckled and looked back at Dash. Then, using her teeth, she tore the paper in half and tossed it away.
“What are you doing?!” cried Rainbow Dash. “That’s good for a bajillion apples! Do you even know how many a bajillion is?!”
“Yeah, it’s almost a plethora,” Applejack replied. Then she smiled kindly and met Dash’s gaze. “Dash. I told ya. You’re family. Family can have all the apples they want.”
“Well... that’s cool, I guess,” said Rainbow. “But I’ve kinda already got the Apple I really want.” She looked at Applejack with that warm smile again.
Applejack made a show of rolling her eyes, but in truth she couldn’t help but be a little touched. Then Dash’s smirk reappeared and normal service resumed.
“So?” asked Applejack, “What crazy, suicidal, fool-pony thing are we doin’ today to prove who’s boss?”
Dash’s smirk grew and her eyes sparkled with bravado. “Funny you should ask. Because I pretty much know where the tallest tree in all of Equestria lives, and I’m thinking we have a race to the top. The pony who gets the highest wins. Whaddya say?”
Applejack looked back with her own, confident grin. She could just imagine the view from the top of such a tree... and could imagine seeing it with one of the best friends she’d ever had.
“You know what, Rainbow? You’re on.”
