Rainbow Dash's wings fluttered lightly as she landed outside the Apple Family home — the breeze made for the autumn chill to be a bit stronger than usual, the cold starting to sink into her. She was glad she'd already made it to the home, the less time she spent outside the better. Her hooves left soft marks in the dirt path as she made her way up the hill — hopefully she wouldn't be interrupting, she'd hate to even have to exchange pleasantries with the stallion.
Filthy Rich was his name, and goodness, did he live up to it — his favorite hobby was threatening ponies' livelihoods for bits, it seemed. She snorted — just thinking of the guy made her angry. Dash shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the pollutant — she wasn't here to be antagonistic, she was here to support her friend. See, Filthy Rich was 'visiting' Applejack today to 'discuss' the debt her family was in. AKA, he was here to threaten her with taking the house if she didn't pay him what he wanted. It was practically ransom, the cruel stallion didn't give a flying feather if doing so would destroy lives — in fact, he probably enjoyed it..
By the time she finished her mental rant, she had made it to the front door of the Apple Family home. The air felt.. particularly cold. Still, almost. It felt heavy, as if something has taken the joy out of the atmosphere. Of course, it didn't surprise her, Filthy had a way of doing that to the places he visited. But still, it felt.. wrong. She stopped for a moment, holding her breath to listen — no, not even birdsong.. It was so, so quiet. Far too quiet for the Apple home..
Relax, it's probably just because Filthy and Applejack argued or fought — nothing new, and nothing to worry about. Right.. She raised her hoof, gently knocking thrice on the old wooden door — she waited.. Nothing. She knocked again, a bit louder.. Nothing again. Odd.. "Applejack? It's me!" She yelled to the house, hoping for an answer as the chill thoroughly sunk into her blue coat.. The chill — the wind. She only heard the wind.. Of course, she could also hear her heartbeat thudding in her ears just fine.
It was then she noticed the door wasn't truly shut, just pulled to. She knew this wasn't the polite thing to do, but.. she felt she needed to. Something was wrong, and she would feel worse if Applejack did need her and she didn't go in. Breathing softly, her face fallen into a worried frown, she pulled open the door, squeaking loudly on its hinges as it opened — it was just the Apple house.. right?
Cautiously, she stepped in, her hoofsteps lightly tapping the wooden floor — she swallowed nervously, wetting her throat before she called softly, her voice less confident than she wanted, "Applejack..?"
Something stirred across the room, blocked by the wall to the kitchen — "Applejack?"
The orange mare took a step back, slowly turning to face the pegasus, "Wh-.. Rainbow...?" Before the smile could pull the blue mare's lips up, it dissipated as she saw the condition her friend was in. She fully expected the usually bright and happy mare to be upset, angry even after the visit, but.. she didn't expect this. Applejack looked worn, distant, as if she was mentally somewhere far, far away; her mane was a bit disheveled, and.. oh Goddess.
Rainbow gasped, "Applejack, are you bleeding..?!" A tiny splatter of crimson blood mottled her orange coat, from her chest to her face, but mainly down her front legs and hooves. The pegasus went to take a step towards her, but stopped as Applejack began to move back, recoiling from her approach.
The very, very pale orange mare slowly whispered, "N-.. No.." She breathed a whisper, "N-no, I ain't bleedin'..."
Rainbow slowly stuttered, "Then.. Whose-..?" She didn't finish, and Applejack didn't offer an answer. It was then she noticed the knocked over chairs and broken vase in the floor, a few picture frames having fallen from their proper places on the wall.. Even her hat was on the floor, looking trampled and discarded. Rainbow spoke softly, "Applejack, what happened..?" Applejack was despondent, staring with empty eyes at the ground.. "Did Filthy Rich do this..?" Applejack flinched at the name, her eyes immediately beginning to fill with tears, her lip quivering as she held back cries. "Applejack, did he hurt you? What happened..? Please, I need you to tell me.."
Slowly, the pinpricks of her eyes drifted up to Dash's face, locking with her own concerned gaze.. The blank look sent a deep shiver down Rainbow, activating a deep fear she didn't think she'd ever felt before. Something horrible happened. Something life changing. Something that can't be undone.
Applejack spoke, her voice broken, the words barely escaping her mouth, "Rainbow, I-.. I've-..." She paused, taking a breath to force herself to speak the words, "I've... done... somethin'.." She lingered, but added in a harsh whisper, her face contorting to hold back a sob, "Somethin' real.. real bad.." She breathed, "R-real bad, Rainbow.."
Rainbow Dash felt her body go numb, her heart dropping in fear as she realized how serious her friend was. She started, "Come on, AJ, I bet it's... not..."
She saw it.
Applejack silently let a broken laugh escape her, "O-oh, it is.. Rainbow.. It is.."
Rainbow's eyes locked on the floor, in the doorframe between the living room and kitchen, just in front of Applejack.
"He was.. threatenin'.. my f-family, Rainbow.. My family.."
On the ground was the dirty brown hair of a tail, laying there, unmoving. And just beyond that, was an equally still tan hoof. And just after that, the browns mixed with crimson..
"He s-said he was gonna take everything.."
Rainbow Dash took a few steps forward, her legs moving on their own, bringing her to a better view.
"He was.. gettin' angry.. He started yellin'... Screamin' that he was gonna.. take it all.."
Filthy Rich laid sprawled in the floor, a growing pool of crimson slowly expanding from under his head. The red came from numerous cuts on his face and neck, looking almost bludgeoned, blood running from his ears, nose, mouth..
"I.. I d-didn't.. mean to.. I just-.."
Rainbow Dash slowly lifted her stunned eyes to the orange mare, now openly crying before her.
"I'm s-sorry, R-Rainbow.. I'm s-so sorry.." She began to sob, "I d-didn't mean to, it j-just happened-" She was cut off when Dash pulled her into a deep embrace, holding her tight to her body — though she provided very little warmth, the feeling of a friend was overwhelming to Applejack, who sobbed and hiccuped into her neck and shoulder.
Rainbow Dash, tears silently rolling down her own face, softly cooed, "Shh.. It's okay... It's okay, Applejack, it's gonna be okay.. I promise.."
It was a long while before the two mares let each other go, stepping back to cast a shared look at Filthy Rich. Applejack breathed, her voice breaking again from the regret and despair, "What am I gonna do, Rainbow..? Wh-what am I g-gonna do..?! I c-can't-.. I can't turn myself in, they'd-.. Then who'd take care of everything..? Of Applebloom? Of Granny, of the harvests, of o-our f-friends-"
Rainbow Dash was silent, staring at the corpse with less emotion than she'd stare at a rock on the ground.. "You don't." She spoke blankly, getting the orange pony's attention. Turning her head back to face her friend, she spoke, "You don't turn yourself in. This," she gestured to Filthy, "never happened."
Applejack looked dumbfounded, "Wh-.. What do you mean..?"
Rainbow spoke flatly, "To everyone else, this didn't happen. You're innocent. If they can't find him.. it didn't happen."
The Element of Honesty felt her soul cry out in objection, but the Element of Loyalty wouldn't have it. If truth was betrayal, then the answer was obvious. She continued, "We can put him somewhere else. We can say he did visit, but left, and then whatever happens.. happens. You don't have to lie, just.. bend the truth a little.. The last time you saw him.. was when he left your home." Before Applejack could speak, Rainbow had reached down, grabbing his tail in her teeth, and began dragging the stallion towards the door.
Applejack exclaimed, "Rainbow, what are-?!"
Dash dropped the tail, staring her friend in the eyes, a fierce look of unfeeling determination in her face. "The last time you saw him.. was when he left your home. So it wasn't you." She resumed her task, yanking the stallion harshly across the floor and out the open door. After that, she just.. took him.
Applejack stood alone in the cold room, a large smear of fresh blood across the floor, marking the area he fell and where he was taken. Rainbow Dash had left with his body, to take him Goddess-knows-where, to rid her friend of evidence and stay loyal to the bitter end.. and what she said was true. That was the last time she saw him.
Applejack didn't know what would happen. She didn't know if they'd be found out, she didn't know if they'd live with this forever. She didn't know if they'd be locked up or executed, or go off without a single suspicion pointed their way. But.. she did know one thing.
No matter what happened..
She had her friend by her side.
