Quiet resignation

My inspiration

*Yawn*"Good morning Rainbow Da-" Applejack started, only to stop and smile sadly for a moment.

"Silly me. Fergettin' n' all." Her voice was hoarse with age and hard labor.

Sitting in bed, she stared at the ceiling. The room was painted a warm green. Tapestries hanging by the walls were painted in golden glory as the godrays peeked through the curtains.

The window was open. Had it been open before?

Applejack stayed in bed for a little bit, relishing in the comfort of the sheets. The bliss of it warmed her heart as she moaned in content.

Taking a deep breath, she sighed through her nose. Getting up and making her way downstairs.

"Can't catch me!"

"Put yer money where yer mouth is n' we'll see."

Memories. Sitting at the top of the stairwell she saw her blue companion flying.

A soft breeze ruffled the curtains. And for a minute, she swore she saw a blue feather around the corner. Followed by fading laughter.

"Ah shoot. Guess mah hearin's not what it used ta be." She muttered, hobbling on down the stairs and taking a seat at the coffee table.

"Wow....I'm really glad we moved out to the ocean."

"Me too Rainbow Dash."

"I'm sorry for...making you move with me Applejack. I...I know you loved Applebloom. And I know you miss the country. I'm so- "

"Aw hush up now Sugarcube. For you, I'd give up the world."

Making her way over to the kitchen, Applejack fetched herself some coffee, placing the freshly ground beans in the filter.

As she waited, she gazed out the open French Window near her right.

Stretching out before her was the great blue. As far as the eye could see was blue and white. Lapping breakers splashed onto the shores.

Of the beach.

Of the house.

Of the home.

The trickling of the coffee into the pot notified her of it's progress. Though she paid it little mind as she sat in an old woven bottom wooden chair. Staring at the ocean.

"Hmm. No wonder why Dash wanted ta move here." She lazily stated, only half awake.

"Isn't it beautiful Applejack?"

"It sure is sugarcube. It sure is."

In her half-awake state, she saw a glimpse of a memory. The two of them sat nuzzling on the old couch as they gazed at the rising sun together.

For a moment, she could almost feel the warmth of her body.

With a jerk of her neck and a violent shake of her head, Applejack fully woke up.

"Was ah dazin'? Huh." Scratching her head, she fetched the pot of coffee. Making her way back to the seat and staring back at the ocean as it lapped a the sands.

".....Aw what the hay. Why not." With that, placing the cooled pot on her back, she opened the window and walked out ont the sands.

The feeling of the shifting beneath her awoke new memories.

"Rainbow Dash! Get out of there! Yer gonna get sand in the house! Ah don't wanna have to clean that up again!"

"Oh? Make me!"

Now she couldn't mistake them for half-waking random thoughts. She saw the memories playing out before her eyes as Dash pulled her younger self into the sands. Protesting of course. She saw her own mane as the two tussled in the sands.

Not that she minded really. Shaking her head, she took a seat on her sun-chair. One she'd dug into the sand years ago.

Taking a sip of coffee, she smacked her lips.

"Mmm. Black roast." She muttered.

"Aww c'mon AJ! Stop it!"

"Nuh uh. Not 'till ya say uncle little missy!"

"Oh yeah?! Let's see you say it first!"

She saw the splashing and giggling as the two frolicked in the water's edge. That had been when they'd first moved to the ocean.

Old Applejack stifled a giggle a this particular memory.

"Now If ah remember correctly. Didn't she get a cold 'cuz of that?" Muttering to herself, she basked in the morning sunlight as they played out all around her.

All the times they'd sat in the sand talking, eating, playing, kissing, crying, breathing.

Living. Being. Alone. Away from civilization. Away from all the bad things. Away from the heartache. Away from the pain. Away from the self-doubt and the troubles.

Yawning, Applejack took another sip.

The day wore on as she sat, the sun making it's way across the sky as it did everyday for the past 60 years. And it would continue to do so 80 years in the future.

"Funny how little things change in tha grand scheme o' things." She mused to herself, the sea hadn't changed at all. Neither had the sand, nor the miles of un-discovered beach flanking her and the modest house for miles and miles in every direction.

Yes, funny how little things changed.

"I'm...sorry Ms. Rainbow Dash. But I'm afraid I have bad news"

"Wha? How? Why? I thought I was fine!"

" The results for the genetic testing and bone scanning came in. And I'm afraid you have Osteogenesis Imperfecta."

"Land's sake man! Speak english why don'tcha?"

"Mrs. Apple. I'm sorry, but Rainbow Dash has a very acute brittle bone disease. I'm afraid she can't fly anymore."

Applejack awoke with a start. At some point in time she'd begun to doze. And only now did she find that she'd awoken during mid-afternoon. The coffee pot had dripped out at some point, dark spots in the sand painted dark brown told her of that story.

The tide lapped at her back hooves now as she struggled to get up. The black roast leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Of all the ones, ah just had ta remember that one huh?" She muttered indignantly, struggling through the sand. The once warm and blissful shifting turned to agonizing and torturous burning as the heated sand burned the keratin of her hooves.

"C'mon now Dashie. Just a little more."

"Uh! I don't think I can make it this time AJ."

"Aw now don't say that. Just a little further's all. Don't you want to sit at the water's edge?

"Nah. Not today AJ. I think I'll just sun-bathe for today."

Another memory, this one not so pleasant. Of a sickening and brittled Rainbow Dash simply sitting and staring at the sky. Her face gaunt and unhealthy with sunken eyeballs as she laid back in the sand.

Applejack had to stop and stare for a moment.

She looked so beautiful. Just sitting there bathed in the glow of the sun. With that little cocky smile on her face. Her eyes closed as she looked towards the heavens.

Even if she couldn't fly, she could still make Applejack's heart soar.

Making her way back into the house, Applejack took a quick shower to get rid of the accumulated sand. Sitting back down on the sofa and lighting the hearth fire.

"You know AJ? I kinda like this disease."

"Hmm? Now what in tarnation makes you say that?"

"Well, I dunno. I mean before I wouldn't have seen the ocean and the sands. Or hay, even the birds. All I woulda cared about was the speed. But you know? This thing slowing me down? Its not so bad."

"Well...good on ya I guess."

"Aww, come here you!"

"Hey! Careful now Dash! Ya might snap something-"

"Ah screw it. If it'll mean breaking all my bones ah'll still hug ya!"

Somewhere along the way, the sun had set. Applejack sighed deeply as the memories coursed through her.

The room began spinning. Everywhere she looked was another memory. On the table where Dash had broken her first vase. In the windowpane where she used to make her silly faces. On the stairs where the sun would illuminate her beautiful cerulean self. On the couch where they would snuggle in each other's hooves. At the table where the sun would cast it's brush upon the canvas that was her. Painting her solemn and elegant. She was everything Applejack wasn't and admired in other ponies. The ability to give up everything for others. The casual personality that told you 'hey, it'll be alright' even when it wasn't. The beautiful and elegant. The lovely.

Rainbow Dash had been her everything.

"Aw well, least she died in peace." She thought, the tears welling up.

And suddenly, the barrier holding back all the sadness burst. She threw her head to the ceiling, tears freely flowing down her cheeks.

"Aw who am I kidding? I was always a bad lier." She joked, laughing in a raspy voice.

"Well, even though yer gone. At least I have tha house. And that'll do fer now."

Speaking to the air, she began to reminisce.

"This is the home we built together.

Don't you remember?

Of course you do. You live here now.

You live here forever now. Here, and in my heart."

She had to really laugh at the corniness of it all.

"Ah hay, least I spoke true." She muttered, the tiredness tugging at soul willing her to sleep.

Yawning once she made her way back upstairs. A day well spent.

Back into the empty cold bed, Applejack's half unmade. Rainbow Dash's....perfectly fine. Applejack hadn't bothered to touch it. Ever since she passed.

Yawning and smacking her lips, she slid into bed, pulling the sheets over her form.

"Well, good news is ah only got a few days left in this ol' girl. Then, then maybe ah'll see ya 'gain." She muttered sleepily, turning and continuing her nightly ritual.

A kiss on Rainbow Dash's forehead before heading to sleep.

But this time she kissed empty air.

"Ah, darn it, keep forgettin'. Ah well, g'night." She laughed once, turing off the nightlight and falling asleep.