Love Tested

by CrimsonEquine

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Thriller, Adventure
Length: 1722

Rainbow Dash and Applejack go to a mysterious place guided by the map. They test their resolve and love in the battle ahead.

Rainbow and Applejack are in love, but somepony isn't so sure going public is a good idea.
In the midst of this, they solve a friendship problem that tests their resolve.

Published 2022-10-13 01:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-10-13 01:30:01 UTC

Resolve Unbeaten

Rainbow Dash walked down the pathway. Applejack followed behind her. They went past the trees and the broken-down houses that sat alone. They could both feel the air of emptiness caress their faces. There was no pony and Rainbow Dash felt a shock of energy crawl through her spine. Applejack caught up with her, they both tried their best to understand what had happened.

“Where is everypony?” said Rainbow Dash. She scratched her chin and watched the gust of wind pass through. “This seems a lot more abandoned than expected”.

“Oh, come on dash, we haven’t even gotten to the place yet,” said Applejack. “It's just down the road, you don’t have to fuss so much”.

Rainbow Dash tried her best to keep the chill from freezing her wings. She continued along the way with the dead trees and grass in her way. There was a dead cockroach on the side of the road. Rainbow went past with a frown.

“I just don’t understand why the friendship table made us come this way, it feels eerily dangerous,” she said. “Does this have anything to do with a friendship problem?”.

Applejack pressed her leg and Rainbow felt a smack on her rump. Rainbow giggled at the sentiment and crept forward to the other.

“Shouldn’t be as scary as when you first tried to kiss me dash,” said Applejack. “The other friendship problems had nothing too violent in them, we should be fine”.

Rainbow Dash went an inch close to Applejack and eyed her beautiful green eyes. She peered in and felt her lips touch a soft but familiar taste. A kiss that felt warm and inviting. Applejack released herself and ran forward a few meters before Rainbow went after.

“What's wrong, don’t you love me Applejack?” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack turned and smiled with a few of her hooves shaking.

“This is all going too fast Rainbow, I don’t know if the others are ready for our union”.

Rainbow Dash went with heavy hoofsteps.

“I don’t care about what everypony will think, I love you Applejack and there isn’t anything that will get in the way of that”.

Applejack felt a heat, a blush on her face.

“Wait Rainbow Dash look”

“What, what is it?”

From afar, a group of ponies huddled together. They whispered incomprehensible words as they stared into each eyes. Frozen in place, they watched and could not move. Their vacant expressions caused the two ponies to chill to their bones. Then, one with glowing eyes noticed the two and screamed out a high-pitched screech that caused the others to stampede toward them. Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran for miles as the hooves slammed against the pavement. They went inside a house and sealed the door with a mighty kick. The ponies tried their best to enter but paused by the dented door. Their howls turned from a loud noise to a slow murmur.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack sucked in the air around them.

“What the hell was that what was wrong with those ponies?” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack sat down on the old grainy floor and took off her hat. She breathed a sigh of relief and lay there to process.

“I don’t know dash, but we better stay here lest those ponies come back, for the time being,” she said.

Rainbow walked in circles at what she saw. Never has she seen ponies with such an expression of animalistic ferocity. There had to be a cause to this, but no clear idea what.

“I just don’t understand how ponies could end up like that, must be some kind of magic or something,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe we should go back and check with Twilight to see if she can help”.

Applejack stood up and looked Rainbow Dash in the eye.

“No Dash, we were sent here for a reason, there is no turning back now,” she said. “Besides, it would take too long to get to Twilight before whatever is happening to these ponies worsen”.

Rainbow Dash looked down and scraped the floor with her hoof.

“But what if we get caught like them?” said Rainbow Dash. “Whatever is happening to them could happen to us too!”
Applejack went to Rainbow Dash and hugged her.

She peered deep into her side, her mouth near the point of her ear.

“Don’t worry Dash, I’m with you always, we need to fix this before it gets out of hand, we’ll be done quickly”.

“Okay, Jackie, I believe in you then, I just hope we don’t get killed,” she said.

Applejack turned away and lay on the ground.

“Just get some sleep sugar cube, we’ll be heading up in the morning”.

Rainbow Dash felt hesitation to sit but went down as her hooves gave up.
–
A creaking sound came out from the floorboards. The startled Rainbow Dash woke to it and stirred from her sleep. She readied herself to stand up to any creature. To her dismay, there was no pony there. Rainbow breathed in and sat down on the ground. Her hooves shook as her body trembled. Then Rainbow Dash felt her whole-body freeze, a white pony-bodied creature stood a few meters shadowed by the darkness. She could not move as the creature walked forward toward the pony. She let out a high-pitched yelp and it disappeared.

Applejack stood up from the shriek and looked toward Rainbow Dash.

“What happened, was it those ponies again?”

Rainbow Dash breathed in and looked towards the floor.

“Applejack, I saw a white pony in the foyer over there!” she said. “It stared at me and vanished when you woke up”.
Applejack went towards that section in the moonlight and frowned with lowered eyebrows towards Rainbow Dash.

“Oh come on, you’re acting more scared than a little foal, what happened to the Dash I know?”

I’m sorry, that was uncalled for

Rainbow and Applejack leaped before they saw a white pony on the staircase. She seemed like a pony, but with a hazy glow on her body.

Applejack went forward with a hard hoofstep. Her resolve was ready for anything that thing would do.

I’m not your enemy, I haven’t seen a pony in these parts in ages, as you can see,

“What do you want with us Spirit?” said Applejack.

Long ago, this land was teeming with happy ponies and livelihood across the area. My name was Galatea back then, but I was a sad soul those days, but I digress, I need your help

“What do you need our help for?” said Rainbow Dash.

I caused this, I made a spell that turned everypony into a ravenous, mindless animal that charge at anypony like them, they turn into ponies like them, and ad nauseam things never get done, I did the spell to make friends, but I never thought that things would turn out this way even after my death, I botched the spell and made this land uninhabitable. Please, destroy the sigil, it's in the bottom of this house, please stop this madness so no pony else can be trapped against their will ever again.

The specter looked up and gave a satisfied smile.

It's my time to go, after all these years…

The specter vanished before she could say one last word.

Destroy the sigil and free the ponies here, be warned, the sigil will make them attack, you must be prepared.

Goodbye.

The lost pony made a bright light that blinded Applejack a bit and then was gone, her last moment left of this world collected in dust that flew over the stairs.

“Well, where's this sigil then?” said Rainbow Dash.

A hoof smashed through a wall. The possessed ponies with their red eyes watched from outside. They continued to smash through with their strength. Applejack went with fast steps with Rainbow Dash in toe til they both went down the stairs to the basement. The creatures tore the wall apart with dusty old debris that fell over the pavement.
The corrupted tripped and scrambled over the stairs as the two ponies ran down the hallway. They moved like rabid, grotesque animals starved for flesh. Both smashed into a door and found a glowing circle from across the room. The two ran as fast as their hooves could take them. The controlled ponies crushed through the ceiling and fell to the ground like corpses. The horde of ponies were too close.

Rainbow Dash lifted Applejack and threw her toward the circle. There, she slammed her hoof down on the floorboard and destroyed the figure. Rainbow Dash was taken by the possessed and sucked into their mass with their many hooves.

“Applejack!” she screamed.

The ponies fell on top of each other and paused their attack. Applejack climbed over the destroyed floor and dirt. There, she ran towards the mass of ponies on top of each other. She pushed each unconscious body to the side.

“Please no, Rainbow Dash, I love you, don’t die on me!”

With all those words, Rainbow Dash’s body sat limply on the ground below a pile of ponies.

“NO, Rainbow Dash!” she said.

Applejack cowered while she screamed at the top of her lungs and began to have tears drip down her eyes. She heard laughter from somewhere unexpected.

“Look at your face Jackie, you look so stupid”

Applejack gasped and saw Rainbow smiling at her. She rose and grasped her head.

“Oh dash, I never want to lose you ever again”.
–
So those ponies finally went back home after they were trying to claw at us both, they were lost for ages and fed on grass like cattle, but don’t even remember anything, what a haw hooting hootenanny that was, as for me and Rainbow, there was something we still had left to do.

“What is it Applejack, what did you want to tell us about?” said Twilight Sparkle with a pout and a questionable gaze. “It must be important after saving all those ponies?”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and smiled.

“We’re engaged”

Pinkie Pie constrained and exploded like a balloon over the crystal castle.

“Oh my gosh, gay friend ponies, I’m going to have a party that no pony will ever forget, yippee!”

Everypony laughed, the two crept close to each other and kissed.