A Truth Revealed
The storm was over.
With a grunt of effort, Big Mac pushed open the cellar door, kicking aside the shattered, splintered remains of the barn which had fallen astride it. One by one the Apple family emerged, followed by Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. They stared, horrified, at the scene of destruction around them. At the broken, scattered remains of Sweet Apple Acres.
None of them had ever seen destruction on this scale that hadn't been caused by some great, unnatural evil. It baffled them that nature could do this. That a freak storm stretching out beyond the normally closed boundary of the Everfree forest had been able to wreak such complete havoc and devastation across Ponyville... including the near total decimation of the Apples' home.
The barn. The farmhouse. All gone, reduced to rubble and kindling. And beyond the farmyard itself, stretching out amongst the gentle hills which comprised the majority of Sweet Apple Acres, not a single tree left standing. Not an orchard untouched. Not a sapling left rooted.
Their whole livelihood, their whole world, shattered.
And yet, the Apples did not weep. They looked around at what truly mattered. At one another. At their friends, kept safe and sound by their quick thinking; their taking shelter in the cellar.
Fluttershy and Big Mac embraced. Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo joined hooves, the older earth pony helping to keep the two young fillies spirits up and their hearts strong. Rainbow Dash darted over to the remains of the farmhouse, and flew back a moment later clutching one of the few surviving relics; Granny Smith's rocking chair. She lowered it directly behind the elderly mare, and beamed as Granny Smith gave her a fond, motherly pat on the head.
Only Applejack stood alone, glancing around the orchards nervously. She didn't know why, but she had this sick, knotted sensation in the pit of her stomach. This growing dread and anguish which she could not explain, but could not shake. She kept telling herself that everything was fine. That her family was safe. That her friends here were safe, and those who weren't were more than smart enough to seek shelter of their own.
She cast her gaze over the farthest horizon, and then back to the closest former treeline. Broken branches. Fallen leaves. Apples, some intact, others shattered and broken upon the ground strewn wildly across the entire farm. And amongst it all... barely noticeable, but catching the corner of Applejack's eye, a flash of white.
The mare's eyes widened, and she felt that pit in her stomach open up into a gaping, sucking crevasse of dark terror. She shook her head, whimpering breathlessly, and bolted forwards. Running as fast as her hooves could carry her towards that patch of perfect white. That shining, radiant, horrifyingly still form, which simply couldn't be what she feared. It couldn't. It couldn't.
And yet, it was.
Applejack ground to a halt, and sank to her knees with an agonised wail as she saw Rarity's body lying beneath the fallen trunk of an apple tree. The unicorn's form perfectly still. Her mane and tail tossed and pulled out of its normally perfectly quaffed shape by the wind. Her mouth hanging ever so slightly open, and worst of all, her eyes... her beautiful, bright eyes, staring fixed and dull out into oblivion. Utterly lifeless.
The earth pony stared, unable to look away from the body of her dead friend.
She stared, and she screamed.
***************
"No!"
Applejack sat bolt upright. Her breathing heavy, her eyes wide and her heart thundering like a heard of buffalo on their way to a hoe-down.
It was a dream. Of course it was a dream. Now that she was awake, that fact was obvious. If a real storm had been headed for Ponyville, no way she and her friends would have been hiding from it. They would have been out there, trying anything and everything to turn it back. To ensure that what she had seen in her nightmare would never happen. No destruction, and certainly no death.
No matter how completely she knew that to be true, however, and no matter how silly she knew it was to let a dream bother her... Applejack could still feel tears flooding down her cheeks. Normally she was one for crying on the inside, but right now there was nothing she could do to hold back her grief. Her sorrow at the entirely imagined death of one of her closest, dearest friends.
Frantically she shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. Trying to curb her emotions. She pulled herself out of bed, tying back her hair and stuffing her hat down over her ears with frenzied urgency. She paced back and forth across the wooden floors of her room, trying to calm herself. Trying to rationalise what she knew with what she was feeling. Until, that is, she realised that what she was feeling had nothing to do with her dream.
She wasn't feeling grief. Wasn't feeling the same terrified sense of loss as in her nightmare. Indeed what Applejack was feeling right now felt like it had absolutely nothing to do with the Rarity in her dream, and everything to do with the Rarity she knew in her real, waking life.
The earth pony snorted, pawing at the ground with her hooves in frustration. She didn't know why, yet. She didn't understand how she knew it to be the case, but Applejack had to see Rarity. And she had to see her now.
Within minutes, Applejack was galloping towards Ponyville, not a care for the fact that the moon was still high in the night sky, nor that when she arrived at the Carousel Boutique there was every chance that Rarity would be as fast asleep as most of the other ponies in Equestria. With every bounding stride she took further tears rolled unceasingly down her face, flowing faster and more abundantly in these past few minutes than they had for years beforehand. She was barely in control of herself, the pony's heart utterly ruling her head despite still being entirely uncertain of the reason that she needed so desperately to see Rarity.
Upon arriving at the rear entrance of the Carousel Boutique, Applejack reared up on her hind-hooves and shamelessly hammered upon the door. She pounded and slammed her forelimbs against the wood ceaselessly even after she saw a light come on within the building, and didn't stop even when she heard Rarity's less than amused voice from within, gruff and clearly freshly woken.
"I swear, unless this is an Equestria-wide emergency somepony is going to get my horn shoved straight up their a-..."
Flinging the door wide open with a blast of magic, Rarity stared out into the darkness.
"...-Applejack?"
In an instant, the unicorn's anger was gone. As she saw Applejack standing there, tearful, trembling and looking like she'd just seen the sun for the first time after spending years underground, there was nothing but concern spread over her face and shining in her bright blue eyes.
"Oh, AJ... darling. What ever is the matter?"
For a second or two longer Applejack just stared at Rarity. Smiling and crying. Sobbing and grinning. So overwhelmed, so inexplicably happy to see the unicorn, and to be able to tell her what was suddenly ringing loud and clear within the earth pony's mind. A truth so powerful and obvious, it baffled Applejack that she had not been able to realise it, to be honest with herself, much more swiftly.
With a cry of mixed sorrow and delight, Applejack flung herself forward and threw her forelegs around Rarity in a tight hug as she finally allowed her emotions to overwhelm her. Trembling and sobbing openly, she whimpered into the soft white coat of her dearest friend.
"Rar'... it was awful. I had this dream. There was a storm. A right fierce storm, a-and... oh Rarity, you died. I lost you, Rarity. I lost you, f-forever."
Touched, if somewhat surprised by her friend's rather dark dream and the touching impact it seemed to have had on Applejack, Rarity squeezed the other mare tenderly and soothingly whispered to her.
"Applejack. Sweet, silly Applejack. That sounds terrible, but I'm fine. I'm right here, fit and well. It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything, surely you know that."
Sniffing and trying her very hardest not to wipe her eyes on Rarity's mane, knowing the ire that would almost certainly incur, Applejack forced herself to withdraw from the unicorn's embrace. She sighed softly, but didn't nod as Rarity had frankly expected.
"I know it was just a dream, Rarity. But... not mean anything? No. It meant something."
Tilting her head, Rarity looked at Applejack with confusion. The earth pony's cheeks flushed, and she forced herself to continue. There was no turning back, not now. She had come this far, and her emotions would not allow her to be anything but truly honest until what needed to be said had been said.
"When I got to your door, and when I saw you lookin' out at me. I'm such a mess, and I woke you up at this gosh-darned hour of the night... but when you saw it was me, and saw how upset I was... you weren't angry. Weren't upset. You just wanted to know how you could help me."
Rarity nodded.
"Well of course, darling. That's what friends are for!"
Beaming and nodding in return, Applejack gazed happily into the unicorn's shining blue eyes.
"I know. But that's just it. Seeing your generosity, your warmth... your friendship, it made me realise why that dream terrified me so darn much. The idea of living the rest of my life never seeing you again. Never seeing your smile, the way your eyes twinkle when you get a good idea... or how your cheeks flush when y'all get bashful... like now, sugar-cube."
The unicorn hid behind her mane slightly, trying to disguise her reddening face. Applejack did not relent, though, and reached the crux of the point she was trying to make.
"The idea of never seeing you again, and never having the chance to tell you the truth. About how beautiful I think you are. How kind and loving, a-and all round amazing you are in my eyes, Rarity..."
Rarity's eyes widened, and her bashful smile faded into a more serious look as she realised that what Applejack was saying to her wasn't just as string of compliments and kind words. It was something more. A confession.
The earth pony swallowed heavily, nodding as she saw the realisation dawning on Rarity's gorgeous features.
"What I feel for you, Rarity, it's friendship. But it's more than that, too. I... I'm not asking you to say you feel the same. I'm not asking you to say anything right now. It's late, or... or early, I guess, and I know I probably should have waited till a more respectable hour... oh gosh, and now I'm ramblin'."
Applejack paused, collecting herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at Rarity once more.
"I just had to tell you how I felt, is all. I had to tell the honest truth, because I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd never gotten the chance to say the one thing that mattered most... t-to the pony who matters most to me. I love you, Rarity."
The two ponies watched one another. They stood in silence, staring wide eyed, frozen to the spot by each other's fixed, fearfully expressionless gaze.
After perhaps ten seconds, the longest ten seconds of Applejack and Rarity's lives, the earth pony blinked. She blinked, and in that instant turned away from Rarity. Already she was beginning to regret what she'd done. What had she honestly expected to happen?! For the unicorn to suddenly spring forward and kiss her? For Rarity to confess her own love and ask why it had taken Applejack so long to realise the truth? It was insane, and she was insane for even hoping that anything good could come out of this.
Applejack reached for the door-handle, tugged on it firmly... and frowned as it refused to open.
She pulled harder. And harder. Refusing to turn back around and face Rarity's eyes once more, barely even able to lift her own from the boutique's tile floor. Eventually however she had no choice, raising her eyes just high enough to look at the door-handle upon which she was futilely pulling, certain that there had to be some way to make it respond to her strength.
Only then did Applejack see it. A faint glow emitting from not just the handle, but the entirety of the door. A magical glow, sealing the door shut... keeping her from opening it and escaping out into the world beyond, no matter how hard she tried.
With a mournful whimper, the pony turned, realising that Rarity wasn't going to let her leave without a good talking-to after all. Sure enough, there the unicorn stood. Horn glowing, eyes blazing fiercely and tears now running down her own face to match those upon Applejack's freckled cheeks.
"How can this happen?"
The unicorn's voice trembled with emotion as she addressed Applejack, stepping forward, towards the cringing, ashamed earth pony.
"How can two ponies who have known each other for so long, who have been friends for so long... sharing every secret, every dream... be so blind? So unfeeling to not only one another's hearts, but their own?"
Taking another step forward, Rarity's horn glowed brighter. Applejack gasped as she felt her hat lifting up and off her head, snatching at it but unable to reach it as Rarity whisked it high into the air above them.
"Look at me, AJ. Let me see those eyes..."
Her voice cracked with emotion. Not sorrow, though, not anger or frustration. With joy.
"...those bright, beautiful, honest eyes."
Applejack looked up, in shock as much as anything else. Her eyes met with Rarity's own, and they saw one another. Truly saw one another for the first time.
"D-don't be afraid, Applejack."
The unicorn took another step closer. So near to the earth pony now that they could feel one another's breath upon their own trembling lips.
"A dream told your head what your heart already knew... but it took your strength and honesty to admit it right in front of my face to clue my heart in."
Rarity took one final step forward, and with a soft, shared gasp from both ponies at once, her nose bumped gently against Applejack's own.
Jeeves