Mares on a Moonlit Night

Chapters

Prologue: The Chewing Gum on the Silk + Chapter 1: Another Day at the Farm
Chapter 2: Muchas Gracias
Chapter 3: A Little Bit of Help
Chapter 4: The Promise
Chapter 5: Questions
Chapter 6: An Act of Charity
Chapter 7: Wanna Bet?
Chapter 8: More Work?
Chapter 9: One Awkward Dialogue
Chapter 11: Hard News
Chapter 12: Looking for Horseshoe
Chapter 13: A Very Tough Day
Chapter 14: Summer Sun Eve
Chapter 15: Where the Sunlight Doesn't Reach
Chapter 16: Desperate Crisis
Chapter 17: Through the Heart of the Everfree
Chapter 18: Dear Friend
Chapter 19: Aftermath
Chapter 10: Going Away

Prologue: The Chewing Gum on the Silk + Chapter 1: Another Day at the Farm

Prologue: The Chewing Gum on the Silk

The darkness was like a huge blob ready to eat everything, consume every living thing it could find, the cold draped itself on her mane and threatened to enter her very own body and turn her white bones into ice. She could feel herself suffocating, but she needed to be strong. She needed to go faster.

'I need to go deeper' —she thought. She reached out her hoof to the blur on her eyes.

'Almost there. Al... most... there' —she was reaching it. 'Just a few feet more. C'mon... C'mon!'

She groaned, and felt herself pulled backwards.

'No! I will not let this happen! I need to make this! I won't. I won't!' —She flapped her forehooves, but it was useless. She tried to scream, but her jaw was clutched tight from both the effort and the cold. Even still she (hardly) managed to open it and let out a word utter and reverberate through the void. What it was, she couldn't make it out. It only sounded muffled. Quickly she saw the gigantic blur in front of her become smaller and smaller as her body was being pulled more and more backwards, as if a claw grabbed her from her coat like a mother dog does with her puppy. She struggled more and more, but to no avail. She could feel a tear come out of her eye as she made it back and gasped for air.
___

She woke up on her bed with a loud gasp; wet again everywhere as she coughed. It was a hot summer night and still she was trembling with both fear and cold and her mane was a complete mess. She found out that aside from her trembling she was unable to move due to fear and realized her bed was a mess from having rolled in the covers over and over again. She looked back to the window and saw the moon with stars trickling around it, equally as beautiful as the moon itself, which shone bright and white like a beacon to light the way of wanderers and travelers. There were few clouds and it made the night seem a little mysterious. Not like other times when it looked like a nightmare. A nightmare. Yes, that was it. Just a nightmare. Quite ironic that something so awful could happen on such a lovely night.

'That dream.' —She thought. It was that dream again. She had been having this dream (or more exactly, nightmare) for the past month or so. What it was, she couldn't tell. It didn't make sense for her. Reach? But reach what? And the flapping? What the heck was that? But the cold and darkness, that was the frightening part. Still she couldn't help but wonder what she was doing there. Or more importantly where was she. Space? No. A dream within a dream? 'That's ridiculous!' —she thought. She cleaned herself and noticed the bed was wet.

'What? This hasn't happened since I was a little filly! —But something was different. The smell. It didn't stink like a foal's "accident", it had a little more stench, but not strong, and instead she was surprised to find it was actually cold.

Sweat. Cold sweat. She wiped her tears (how long had they been there?), tried to clean herself and rustled the covers a bit to ventilate the odor and try to dry them a bit. She sniffled a little and went back to bed. She looked at the moon deep in her thoughts. What could this mean? She sighed and turned around.

Her dreams had begun almost a month and a half ago and since then they couldn't let go. Each time they seemed more vivid and each time she got to see more. Since day 1 she knew it was a nightmare, even though the first time it didn't seem that frightening. For every night the dream had extended itself and she could see each time a new part of it. However, one or two weeks ago, the dream had stopped at the part where she was pulled back.

Each time she awoke herself panting and gasping with cold sweat all over her and tears in her eyes. Why tears? She could at least get the sweat, fright and gasps, but the tears had no explanation and didn't fit with everything. It was like a puzzle that had no sense whatsoever and that particular piece had actually nothing to do with the rest of the picture. She didn't recall exactly when the dreams started. It seemed so long ago and yet so close. She could only estimate dates and times, but she couldn't put a hoof on a specific night in a calendar. It was both her dreams and the hard work she had to do that kept her on the nerve, always somewhat tired and always thinking. Sure, she had trouble with math, but that didn't mean she couldn't use her brain. Actually, aside from her friend Twilight Sparkle, she was one of the sanest and honest ponies in Ponyville (well, the honest part was no wonder) and would always be there when Twilight would enter into whacko territory and snap her out ever since her slight breakdown when she became worried her letter to Princess Celestia was late. She was quite open-minded (at least in most ways) and that helped her think rather logically (although not to the same extent to Twilight Sparkle, but actually on a different kind of logic).

Still, she could beat her head time and time again trying to figure out what the hay was that dream only to become confused.

===========================================

Chapter 1: Another Day at the Farm

Applejack woke up my midday, her mane still ruffled from her nightmare from last night. Even though she had slept, she was still tired from the lack of sleep. She always slept very late at night and awoke by midday. One time she even awoke by sunset (she thought it was sunrise, up until she trotted down onto the kitchen to find Big Mac had already done both their jobs of apple bucking and was already getting ready to sleep). This time, however, Applejack was glad she woke up earlier. Sure, she had woken up late (even for normal pony standards), but at least she didn't wake up sunset late. She trotted down to the kitchen to find Applebloom already halfway through her brunch with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo waiting for her in the door, all three talking excitedly about their day.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS LOST PET FINDERS!!!" —they yelled in unison and with that, they set pace towards the Whitetail Woods.

Applejack sighed as she neared the table, Applebloom's pancakes and eggs still warm on the plate. She decided to eat what was left and then head out for the orchard to start her duties.

The sun was already at its full and Applejack knew that if it weren't for her father's Stetson she would've surely crawled back to bed. She had already missed a lot of work so she felt like she would've forced herself out anyways were she still tired. She walked up towards a tree and bucked the ever-living soul out of it with her hind hooves, but no apples fell off. Confused, she bucked again. Again, no apples fell from the branches.

She heard a soft chuckle on her back and she turned around. Big McIntosh was hauling a cart full of apples in her direction (or more specifically, towards the apple barrels).

"Those trees're already bucked, sis. Maybe you should go into 'nother section of the orchard"—said Big Mac.

—"What in tarnation're you talkin' 'bout bro?" —asked AJ a little bit confused. "Today's mah turn to buck this section."

—"Nope" —replied the stallion. "Ah already took care of this part. You should go further down AJ. The northwestern section still has a few trees to buck. Tha apples are hard to buck in there."

—"Alright. Ah'll go" —answered the mare in a little bit of frustration.

—"Do it well AJ!" —said McIntosh with (what AJ hoped was not) a little bit of anger in the last part.

Applejack headed for the northwestern part of Sweet Apple Acres in a slow pace. She still had her mind dangling on about her dreams. She hoped that bucking some apple trees would help her mind relax and forget about the situation at least until nightfall. She arrived to the northwestern section of the farm and started bucking.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Big McIntosh was heading back to the orchard to check on Applejack. Granny Smith had told him that it was quite late and AJ still hadn't returned to the house. Big Mac decided to go and check out. He was sure she hadn't done a good job.

'Just like last time, and the time before that, and the time before that' —He told himself. Applejack was doing a very poor job on the farm, and it normally fell on Mac, who had to overwork himself to do her duties in addition to his. It was already dark when he got there and he found AJ lying on the floor. If she hadn't been snoring or he hadn't seen her stomach pace up and down as she breathed, he would've sworn his sister was dead.

With a little bit of effort, Mac carried Applejack on his back while she loudly snored (even for Applejack or Apple family standards, that was loud). He turned a glance over to the apple trees. He quietly grunted to himself. That filly had done about half her job in a very poor way. If he wouldn't have seen the trees he could've sworn she had overworked herself —little did he know it was partially true. Mac carried Applejack back to the house and laid her in her bed. The mare slightly moved when she got down, mumbling softly something. McIntosh walked out of the room before glaring at his sister as if she could feel his eyes. AJ sleepily grabbed the covers of her bed and pulled them over. Big Mac turned off the light and headed out, mentally preparing himself to overdo his body again.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

It was very dark and cold. She could feel the dampness in the air go inside her nose and spread across her body. The air was very stiff and she couldn't run very well because of the terrain. Streaks of light poured here and there from small gaps so it wasn't that hard to see. Her mane got stuck once or twice and her hooves started to ache. She needed to outrun it. Escape to the farthest place she could go as long as it didn't catch them. If they could only lose it they'd at least slow down. That didn't seem to be the case. The screeching got louder as it came nearer and nearer. They found a small ditch and cowered in there. Time seemed to pass eternally. It may as well had been two seconds or a thousand years. How much time passed by, no one knew, but it seemed like it was now gone, at least, for now. They got up and ran towards wherever their hooves took them as they spotted some light pouring between an opening. They got closer and closer as they exited the darkness.
___

She started panting and shivering as she rose sharply from her bed. Some sweat was wetting her coat and a little bit of her mane, but it wasn't a big deal. Whatever her mind was playing right now, she didn't care any longer. It was just a fantasy inside her head and she needed a little bit of time to get over it and go back to bed, or else she was up for a treat of three naps on a day —especially today, where she couldn't afford to sleep on work. She had been scolded many times before for sulking around instead of doing her duties, but Rainbow Dash just shrugged them off like it was nothing. Today however, she had the weirdest dream she had ever had in her life. She couldn't remember where she was or how she got there, but she was surely scared, something that rarely happened to her. She could only remember trying to escape from something. Something big that screeched loudly. Almost as if it were—. No. No, it couldn't be. It was just old mare's tales made to scare little foals in her dreams. It surely couldn't be that. She hadn't even—. She really needed to get some sleep, and tomorrow's big rainy day was going to be important, so Dash was going to make sure she didn't ruin the day for everyone or herself. She shook her head and tried to doze off into sleep, this time, to dream a dream about speed, heights and adrenaline.

With another groan, Applejack went to sleep again, this time, a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 2: Muchas Gracias

“Again?! Rainbow Dash! How many times have I told you to get back to work? You’re a slacker, Dash!”

Rainbow had fallen asleep in the middle of work yet again.

—“Sorry Cloudkicker. It’s just that I haven’t slept very well.”

—“Well, that’s no excuse. You know this day is supposed to be the day we start preparing ourselves for the Summer Sun Celebration!”

—“Yeah, I know. Last time that happens Cloudkicker.”

—“Well, I hope so” —said Cloudkicker with a worried look on her face and a stressed tone in her voice.

Rainbow Dash returned to moving clouds and grabbed a hoof-full of cloud as she sprayed water over herself. This was the fifth time she was scolded for sleeping, her dream obviously getting the better of her.

The cold water dripped from her face and she grabbed another hoof of cloud to drink a bit. Now that she was awake, she set to move the clouds over Ponyville for the rain season. The Summer Sun Celebration was not to be celebrated until about a month later, but there needed to be about three weeks of rain to irrigate the plants to ensure they were green by the time Princess Celestia came. After that, there was just a sunny week until the rains resumed. While trying to stay awake, Rainbow Dash moved the clouds around Ponyville until she and the rest of the weather team managed to block out the sun.

Tired, Rainbow lied down on a small puff and watched on the town below her.

___

Noon began to set in and the sky seemed blacker than ever. Even if there was still technically a bit of sunlight, the thickness of the clouds made what few rays of sun remained not pass through them. Applejack was tending the orchard as usual. The bags on her eyelids heavier than ever. She then heard an echo and turned around.

“Huh?” She said with a hint of a yawn in her voice.

Applebloom approached her with worried eyes.

—“Applejack!”

—“Nothin’ yet?”

— “Nope. An’ we done searchin’ everywhere!”

—“Geez. This is sure heavy. Ah’d help you out if ah wasn’t so back with mah duties.”

Applebloom sighed with defeated eyes.

“Don’t be sore sugracube. Ah’m sure she’s alright. ‘sides, if she went somewhere, someone would bring her back. Unless that is she went ta the Everfree Forest. An’ she knows better than anyone not ta go in there. She’s not stupid.”

—“Ah know. Ah just hope she gets back.”

—“Me too. Now, go get yer stuff and head home. It’s pretty far from here an’ you need ta make yer homework.”

—“Okay big sis.”

Applebloom turned around and headed back to the house. Since the past three days, Winona had been missing and had the whole of the Apple Family —that is, Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith and Big McIntosh— worried for her. They knew she’d return, since she knew the way back and had an excellent sense of smell, but that didn’t stop the ponies for searching.

Applejack was frustrated she couldn’t do anything but buck apples. In merrier circumstances she’d enjoy the days in the orchard, but it wasn’t the same without her pet partner around her. Aside from the occasional visit from her friends and Rainbow crashing into the orchard every now and then, Winona was the only company she really had. Applebloom and Big Mac were always there for her in the house, but when Applejack stepped out into the fields, Winona was the one who stood by her side and it saddened her that she was lost. That didn’t keep her head down, as she hoped the dog’s great sense of orientation brought her back home.

“Hey Applejack!”

A voice called out for her from the skies.

—“Rainbow!”

—“Hi” —said the rainbow-maned Pegasus—. “Just droppin’ by to say hello.”

—“That’s quite neighborly of ya sugarcube, but ah’m afraid ah got a lot of work ta be done” —said the orange earth pony with a hint of exhaustion in her voice.

—“Oh?”

—“Yeah. Ah got a lil’ back on mah duties at the farm, so ah gotta make up for it.”

—“How much?” —asked the cyan pegasus.

—“Um… Three weeks?” came the farmer’s embarrassed response.

—“Three weeks! What the hay were you doing!?” Asked Rainbow.

—“Ah haven’t slept very well.”

—“That’s funny.”

—“An’ why is that?”

—“Well, I could explain it to you, but I’ll just be a burden, and I don’t want to be the reason you need to keep working extra time. As soon as you have a spare time or when you finish this mess, then we can hang out again.”

—“Thank ya kindly Rainbow. Yer not mah best friend fer nothin’.”

Rainbow just smiled and tilted her head a bit.

—“Hey, it’s no biggie. You look really tired, but I understand if you’re really busy.”

—“Thanks Rainbow. Listen, normally mah day would’ve ended like three hours ago, but because of mah delay ah gotta work extra time.”

—“Thanks for the heads up” —came the pegasus’s snarky answer. “It’s not like you already said that a couple of seconds ago.”

—“Real funny, Rainbow. Anyway, what ah’m tryin’ ta say is that I get ta work for two more hours here, so come back by 8 o’clock an’ we can talk a bit.”

—“No prob. I’ll be there.”

—“Great, see ya near the barn.”

—“OK! Well, I better leave you before you get scolded.”

—“Bye then, Dash.”

With those last words, Rainbow flew away leaving her trademark rainbow streak behind her. Even in this darkness Applejack could still see the light spectrum left by her best friend. She turned her gaze and got to bucking. With a new goal in her mind (be still alive by 8 o’clock), she determined herself to buck as many apples as she could. She knew time could fly by when she was focused in her work.

Chapter 3: A Little Bit of Help

Rainbow Dash was flying a bit slow today, her weariness getting a bit heavy. She was tired, but not as tired as to drift away in a cloud, or collapse in the middle of the street sound asleep. She figured she could go to her friend Fluttershy’s cottage and have a cup of tea. It was getting a bit cold in the outside, and a cup of tea would surely warm her up and wake her senses a little bit. She decided to land on the outskirts of Ponyville to walk to Fluttershy’s cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest; too much flying had worn her wings down, and as much as she enjoyed being in the air, sometimes she needed to rest the wings out or face another week and a half with Nurse Redheart. She calmly walked the streets of Ponyville that led to the Everfree Forest when she noticed a small bucket near the wall of one of the small alleys of the little town. She approached it calmly when out of it came Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s runner of Sugarcube Corner, baker, party maker and unique friend.

“GAH!”

—“Aaah!”

Pinkie unintentionally tackled Rainbow Dash and they both groaned as they tried to raise themselves to her hooves.

—“Pinkie! You scared the ever-living oatmeal out of me!”

—“Oatmeal?! Are you crazy?”

—“Wha—” stammered Rainbow.

—“Hi” —said Pinkie as she waved to no one in particular.—“You may be wondering what the hell does this have to do with the plot. The answer is nothing. Nothing at all. Now read that in Ned Flanders’s voice and keep reading.”

—“WHAT? Pinkie, what are you—?”

—“Oooh! I need to stab a pumpkin!” Said Pinkie, oblivious to the world around her as she felt her left hoof tickle —one of her “combos” taking place.

—“WHAT?! Pumpkin? Pu— pumpkin? What? What?! WHAT?! Pumpki— WHAT?”

—“Now, I need to find an antidote for the underdog and an anthem for the idol inside” —sang Pinkie.

—“WHAAAAA?!”

And with that, the pink mare bounced off in the opposite direction just in time to begin humming a tone only she knew while throwing strong kicks in the air as she… Danced?

“I'm more than all these cell phone towers (cell phone towers); I'm more than all these worn and barren streets (barren streets); I'm more than all these small town skylines…”

Pinkie rounded a corner and disappeared.

‘Typical Pinkie. She is so random, I’d better not pay too much attention to her rambles or they’ll get the better of me.’

Rainbow decided to forget the whole incident behind and continued her way to Fluttershy’s cottage.

As she stepped through the meadow that surrounded Fluttershy’s cottage, Rainbow felt the world around her slow down. She heard the birds chirping in the trees and the water of the stream flowing gently, surrounding the small house in a little island. She crossed the small bridge, stepped on the entrance and knocked on the door with her hoof. A small, nervous and soft “coming” came from behind it as hoofsteps were heard to be approaching the doorway.

The door opened and from it came a yellow Pegasus with pink mane.

“Rainbow!”

—“Hi Fluttershy” —answered Rainbow Dash.

— “Hi. It’s good to see you.”

—“Good to see you too.”

—“Um… I don’t mean to sound rude, but… What brings you here? I mean, it’s not that I don’t enjoy your company, I do. But… Well… It’s rare you visit me. Rarity is my most frequent visitor and she only comes on weekends.”

—“Don’t worry Fluttershy. I just came here to talk.”

—“Oh! Talk? Um… Talk about what?”

—“Nothin’ in particular. I just want to spend some time with you before I go see Applejack.”

—“Oh, that’s alright. Come in!”

—“Thanks Fluttershy.”

Rainbow entered the small cottage. It wasn’t as big as her cloud house or Twilight’s library, but it still made it comfortable for anyone who showed up. That is, anyone who wasn’t traveling with three other ponies. Rainbow walked to the living room and lied down on a couch while Fluttershy prepared her some tea. She had not requested it, but it was a habit he timid mare had to give her guests tea, and Rainbow really needed it.

“So” —began the yellow pegasus. “What’s going on?”

—“Well, you see… I…” —stammered Rainbow until she remembered her dream. “Well…”

—“Is something wrong?”

—“No, nothing’s wrong it’s just…” —Rainbow was trying to find the right way to say her feelings and put her thoughts in order.

—“Just…”

—“Ungh! Well, it’s a little complicated.”

—“Uh huh?”

—“And it is really confusing.”

—“If you don’t want to talk about it it’s OK.”

—“No! No, I do want to talk about it. It’s just that there’s so much going on in my head.”

—“I understand. Please, take your time.”

—“Hmmmph” —Rainbow rolled her eyes and stared down at the floor, putting her thoughts in order.

“Well, you see… I got a bit of a problem.”

—“Yes?”

—“Well, I had a dream. A sort of nightmare to be exact. I didn’t know where I was, but I apparently was with someone else… And it was dark and I was running away.”

—“From whom?”

—“I-I don’t know.”

—“Well… I can’t say I’ve had that dream. I mean… I sometimes had nightmares too, but I always knew who I was facing and from what I was running. To be honest, I don’t even recall something similar.”

—“Humph.”

A strange kind of silence invaded the pair of ponies.

—“I’m sorry” —apologized the shy mare.

—“Sorry for what?”

—“For not being able to help.”

—“Don’t be silly Fluttershy. You couldn’t have helped me even if you tried” —answered Rainbow with a reassuring smile in her face.

The yellow pegasus smiled back.

—“Thanks” —said Fluttershy in almost a whisper.

—“Anyway, I had this dream and awoke in the middle of the night. Then I had to work for the Summer Sun Celebration’s premature rains and I was falling asleep in the middle of work. I had to spray myself a couple of times, and had to face Cloudkicker’s scolds. With all of this in my head I quickly finished my work and decided to lie down on a cloud. I was bored beyond myself when I saw Applejack bucking trees in a sort of secluded part of Sweet Apple Acres, so I decided to fly down and talk to her.”

—“I’ll be back” —said Fluttershy as her teapot started whistling. She came back and served two cups for each. Rainbow added three teaspoons of sugar and a bit of milk.

“So, how is she?” —asked Fluttershy.

—“Well, she seemed really tired. She said she hadn’t slept very well.”

—“That’s weird.”

—“Tell me about it.”

Fluttershy chuckled at the small coincidence. Rainbow took this opportunity to sip her drink.

“Anyway, she said she had got back on her duties so I agreed to leave her alone until she had a break. She told me to come back in two hours so here I am.”

Fluttershy seemed to ponder a bit on the situation.

—“Well. It does sound like you’ve had a rough day. You just need to relax, that’s all.”

—“Yeah, but what about AJ?”

—“You just gotta give her time.”

—“Alright” —said Rainbow in a defeated tone.

The two spent the rest of their time discussing this mess with Fluttershy tending to her critters every now and then when Rainbow realized how late it was. Probably Applejack had almost finished bucking her apples and on her way to the barn. Rainbow greeted Fluttershy goodbye and left her house. The shy pegasus seemed to be glad her friend hadn’t forgotten her. With that, the cyan mare took off into the sky with her senses fully awake and her wings rested towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Chapter 4: The Promise

Applejack waited on the roof of her barn. She liked to stargaze every now and then and she thought that it’d relax her senses a little bit after all the work she went through. Today, however, there weren’t any stars and the sky’s darkness seemed a bit brighter with so many clouds —as ironic and nonsensical as that sounded.

She saw something move on the corner on her eye and a dark blur appeared before her. It landed on the ground and seemed to wait.

“Rainbow?!”

—“Applejack?”

—“Up here sugarcube!”

Rainbow fluttered her wings and flew towards the roof of the barn, landing in front of Applejack.

— “What are you doin’ here AJ?”

—“Well, ah figured ah’d look at the sky tonight. It calms me and puts mah thoughts in order. Also, ah like to watch Ponyville from the distance.”

—“That’s odd.”

—“Ah know.”

Rainbow trotted up to Applejack and sat on her haunches beside her.

—“Anyway, what’s up?” —said Dash as she looked at Applejack.

—“A lot.”

—“Tell me about it.”

—“Well, ah haven’t slept very well lately.”

—“You can say that again.”

—“Pardon?” —asked a confused Applejack, who met Dash’s eyes for the first time since she sat down.

—“I haven’t slept very well lately as well. You first.”

—“Well, ah’ve had this weird dream recently.”

—“Really? I also had a weird dream!”

—“Oh! Well… Did ya have this dream for the past month or so?” —said the farmer pony excitedly. For a split second she had the hope that she and her friend had shared the same dream.

—“Nah, it was just a nightmare last night.”

—“Oh” —said Applejack with a disappointed tone on her voice. She lowered her gaze towards the floor —or rather, the roof— with a defeated look on her face.

—“Hey, don’t be sad. I’m sure that we’ll get over it.”

Applejack sighed and closed her eyes, her work and lack of sleep getting the better of her.

“Hey! AJ! AJ! ”

Applejack perked up wide awake and looked around dizzy.

—“Wha— What?”

Dash chuckled at the sight of her friend.

—“You were falling asleep, you silly pony”.

—“Ah’m not silly, ah’m just tired, that’s all.”

—“Aw. Who’s a silly pony? You is, Applejack! ” —Rainbow teased her friend.

—“Stop it!”

Dash laughed again.

—“What? Can’t ya handle the truth? Are you a cowardly dog?”

Dog. Applejack’s gaze lowered as she remembered her lost companion.

“What’s wrong?” —asked Rainbow with a worried tone. For a split second she thought she had inadvertently offended AJ.

—“Nothin’” —replied the orange mare in a cutting tone.

—“Did I say something wrong?”

—“N-no. No! No-no-no-no-no Rainbow, ya didn’t.”

—“Then what’s the matter?”

—“It’s just…”

—“It’s just?”

—“Winona’s missing” —said AJ with a sigh and sadness in her voice.

—“Really?! For how long?”

—“Three days.”

—“Is there anything I can do?”

—“Ah hardly think so sugarcube. But thanks fer tryin’” —Applejack gave Rainbow a warm smile and stayed silent for a moment before continuing. Her gaze perked up at the sky again. She sighed again and proceeded. “Y’know Dash, it’s just ah’ve had a very rough month. Ah mean, that’s the reason ah haven’t done really anythin’ except fer work what with apple buckin’ season an’ all; then there’s Big McIntosh, who’s been acting strangely coldly towards me lately. Then there’s the dream that keeps me from sleeping at night and… And now this. Ah mean, don’t get me wrong, ah love mah job an’ ev’rythin’. But ah feel like runnin’ away for a couple o’ weeks ta see if anyone missed me. Just do nothin’ an’ relax an’ ferget ev’rythin’.”

—“Applejack, don’t say that. If there’s anyone who could really miss you, it’d be us.”

—“Us?”

—“What, is your work so hard you have forgotten all about Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie?”

—“Oh. Yeah…” —AJ had not forgotten about her friends, it was the combination of work and lack of sleep that numbed her brain at times.

—“Besides, there’s Applebloom, who you need to take care of, and most importantly, me.”

—“You?”

—“Well, yeah. You’re my best friend aren’t you? If there’s anyone who could really miss you, then that would be me.”

—“Really, Rainbow?”

—“Yeah, there’d be nopony to hang out if you left. I mean, sure, there’s Fluttershy, but she’s a scaredy pony. Then there’s Pinkie Pie, but she and I just hang out for pranks and stuff; I don’t really have that much in common with her, not that I don’t like her company, I do, but I just don’t seem to enjoy myself at times. Then there’s Rarity, who’s a haughty preppy who only rambles on and on about fashion and stuff. I like her and everything and she’s a great friend, but I can’t get close to her without her having a rant about my hair and how dirty I am and her new dress that’ll make me look like one of those mannequins she has. And finally there’s Twilight, who can’t unglue her eyes out of a book and bore me to death. I like every single one of them, but only with you can I truly be myself. Y’know, fast, athletic… Without you near, I’d bore myself until my wings fall out. I need mud my mane, wind in my wings and a bruise every now and then. And none of our friends enjoy doing that.”

With those words, Applejack had something to think now as she shifted her sight between the sky and Ponyville. How can she have forgotten about her friends that easily? And doubted her best friend’s loyalty? Loyalty ! Out of all her friends she doubted the embodiment of that Element itself. Now AJ looked at herself with pity and felt like a fool.

“’sides…” —continued Rainbow. “Now that the Summer Sun’s Celebration is approaching, if I don’t find something to entertain myself other than stunts for the Wonderbolts, then Cloudkicker will drive me crazy. A loony far into whacko territory, so much into insanity I’ll break our standards. More than when Twilight wanted to make an exact replica of Ponyville in less than a minute. Or when we betrayed each other because of Discord’s spells. Or when Pinkie Pie and Twi—”

Rainbow cut herself at that sentence. She had vowed herself to not to speak of those little incidents again. Applejack didn’t seem to pick on that last part and just gazed to the little town deep in thought.

—“Thanks Rainbow” —Applejack smiled and briefly focused on the cyan mare’s magenta eyes before returning her gaze to the cloudy landscape before her.

They both stayed silent until an idea popped up in Rainbow Dash’s mind.

—“Hey, I’ve got an idea.”

—“ Really ?” —replied Applejack with a heavy tone of sarcasm in her voice, returning the pegasus’s teases she had thrown at her before.

Rainbow just punched Applejack on her hoof playfully.

“Ow! OK, OK. Ah’m listenin’” —replied the orange mare rubbing her leg.

—“Both of our lives and jobs pretty much suck, don’t they?”

—“Hey, watch it Dash. That’s the Apple Family yer talkin’ ‘bout.”

—“No, no. You’ve misunderstood me. What I mean to say is that pretty much everything’s not cool now, right?”

—“Eeyup” —said the orange mare with a small tone of annoyance in her voice and her eyes returning to the sky.

—“Well, how about every time one of us is in trouble or in the middle of a setback, the other will come to help?”

—“Ya mean like if ah was about ta be eaten’ alive by a monster you’ll be my knight in shining helmet coming ta mah rescue?” –asked again a sarcastic Applejack.

—“Well, if the situation demands it, then yes. But I was talking more about normal problems, y’know? Like somepony spreading slander about you, or some dumb colt that broke my heart, or even if too much work and almost no rest is keeping any of us down. I’d come down to help you buck your apples, but there’s Cloud-cuckoo-kicker up there nagging at me. Or even if it’s just you wanting to talk to somepony, I’d come and listen.”

—“Well, ah think it’s a great idea.”

—“So, is this a promise?”

—“Yeah, Dash. It is” —said finally a weary Applejack with a warm smile in her face.

—“Then it’s on.”

Rainbow spat on her hoof and waited. Applejack did the same and then they bumped their hooves together as they closed their pact. They continued to watch the bright sky as hints of a storm were seen all across Ponyville. Blue jets and sprite reds bursting every now and then in an awesome spectacle of colors, blue and red combining. Sometimes a purple would flash out, or even a pink one. Both mares just stayed in the roof until past midnight admiring the spectacle. Their friendship stronger than ever.

Chapter 5: Questions

The day started with a small drizzle. Applejack had woken up early despite going to sleep late the night before and went to the orchard to do her duties once again. She had been assigned to buck the northeastern section this time, while Mac would plow the fields. This would’ve been normal, except that Applejack would work for 12 hours straight, then rest half a day and start anew for three times. Nopony had actually ordered her to do so, but rather she had thought that herself to make her work faster and be done with her debt. She didn’t really care if she got a cold; the rain actually woke her up a bit. After all, it was just a little drizzle. It wasn’t a storm and she’d likely only get a sore throat, but nothing bad. She knew she had to hurry up today and make a triple effort, since the Summer Sun Celebration was coming soon and the whole Apple family would come to visit. That meant that if she was still back on her duties she’d have to overwork herself like she never had done before to make sure there were enough bucked apples to make the pastries for the holiday and to feed her family. All 37 of them.

She slowly made her way to the lake to relax a bit before her body became tense. The usually calm surface of the lake was now constantly deformed by the slight drizzle that was going down on Ponyville. She took off her hat and dipped herself in the water. She held her breath and dove down. The crystalline image of the lakebed woke her up along with the cold yet relaxing feeling of the water. Applejack returned to the surface and decided to swim a bit. She stood like that for about 20 minutes enjoying the cold in her coat and the rain in her face. She stepped out and shivered a little as she felt the chilling wind on her. The orange earth pony thought it was enough and made her way to the northeastern section of the farm.

She arrived on time and saw there was already a big cart waiting for her. She had put that the day before to save the trouble of going to the orchard and back to the barrels. She started to buck as many apples as she could and filled the cart of the delicious fruits she had carefully watched for months.

After about 5 hours, Applejack realized there weren’t many trees left. Somehow she had accelerated her pace to an incredible speed. She knew that if anyone was watching she would have earned herself a medal. She strapped herself to the train of carts behind her and pulled them slowly to the barrels of the barn. She carefully unloaded her cargo onto the barrels and decided to give herself a couple of hours of rest. If she continued at this pace, maybe she would be done in a week or maybe even half.

Looking to the sky she spotted a lonely white cloud that contrasted itself with the grey background behind it.

‘ No. She can’t be ’ —thought Applejack. ‘ I’m going to puke my lunch (wait, did I even have one? Never mind) if she’s— ’. The orange earth pony squinted and spotted her target. ‘ She is !’

By some magical coincidence, the small cloud moved and from it flew a cyan pegasus. She looked around on all directions seemingly bored. She then turned her head to the ground and saw something and flew towards it. She fluttered around for a while before she posed her hooves on the mud.

“Hey AJ” —said Rainbow Dash.

—“Ah can’t believe yer so lazy .”

—“I’m sorry?”

—“Even if there’s a hurricane howling its storm towards Ponyville yer not gonna wake up for all yer might. Yer amazin’ Dash” —said Applejack teasingly.

—“Hey, remember our convo last night? You’re not the only one who’s had a rough week. Thank Celestia that Cloudkicker granted me a break. I mean, we already finished our job for the day and got it raining. There’s nothing else to do!”

—“Dashie calm down. Ah’m just pullin’ yer hoof.”

—“I know, but I’ve been so frustrated lately. The pressure’s going to give me an aneurism and kill me.”

Applejack was surprised for an instant that Rainbow Dash managed to know that word and use it right (something she couldn’t quite do. Maybe she got it from a medical note or an athlete’s anecdote) and decided not to waste time.

—“Ah know! We’ve both been workin’ off our flanks today, right? How ‘bout we go somewhere nice so we can talk further about last night? We didn’t quite finish our talk and there are some things ah’d like ta discuss with ya.”

—“I’m game. Let’s go.”

They both parted towards town with nothing more than their determination. They hoped they didn’t run into their friend Rarity. She —being the fashionista she was— would surely have a heart attack if she saw them naked with no umbrella over their heads, their pelts soaked wet and no raincoat covering their bodies. They made it to downtown and decided to go into a café. The warm drinks would replenish their energies and take away the cold.

They entered the establishment and sat at a nearby table by the window. The place was relatively empty. Most ponies simply decided to stay home today. They ordered a hot chocolate for each and waited.

“So…” —Rainbow began. “Waddaya wanna talk about?”

—“Well…” —stammered Applejack. She wasn’t sure where to start. There were so many things wrong with her that every topic just piled itself on top of the previous one.

—“Well?”

Applejack sighed and continued.

—“Remember what ah said back at the barn?”

—“What? You mean how you’ve been workin’ yourself to death?”

—“No. It’s not that, it’s…” —the orange mare paused a bit before continuing. Trying her might to put the best way to say what was on her head. AJ sighed and proceeded. “It’s Big Macintosh.”

—“What’s wrong with him?”

—“A-ah don’t know. He’s been actin’ real strange lately.”

—“How?”

—“Well, ah’ve noticed he’s been using this cutting tone with me. Like if ah screw up he’s gonna ‘splode.”

—“Aw, c’mon! He’s obviously having bad days. Maybe it’s the Summer Sun Celebration that’s been stressing him up.”

—“Well ah don’t know. Ah mean, it does make sense, but ah think he’s been actin’ like that a lil’ bit longer than that. Like a month or so. About—” —AJ cut herself midsentence as a little speck or realization hit her. Could it be?

—“About the same time your dreams started?”

—“Yeah.”

—“Anyone else knows about this?”

—“No. Just you sugarcube.”

—“Maybe you should try talking a bit more sense into him. Try to explain him the situation. He’s understanding, from what I can gather. Maybe he’ll even offer to cover you up and help you.”

—“Yeah, maybe yer right.”

Applejack took a sip of her chocolate and pondered. She still had one thing bugging her, but she wasn’t going to tell Dash. At least not yet. Could the dreams be bad luck? Could they have begun as a sort of curse? But what would she have done to deserve such a fate? She needed answers and she needed them now.

“Dash, could ya make me a favor?”

—“Sure, AJ!” —exclaimed the cyan pegasus.

—“Can you accompany me ta Twilight’s after this? There’s somethin’ that’s been bugging me.”

—“Sure thing. There’s something I’d like to ask her as well.”

They changed subject and talked about Dash’s days. She sure had a rough couple of days with Cloudkicker being as stressed as Big Mac surely was with the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration since she was always nagging at Dash. They both were driving the mares crazy and both needed a rest. As soon as they finished with this mess they’d spend their time hanging out as much as they could to make up for lost time, whether by competing or simply hanging out with the girls.

They finished their drinks and went out into the now raging storm that was happening outside. How long had they been there? Did they lose track of time? Who screwed up for this storm to happen? They hurried along the rain and into the Ponyville library, a building carved on the inside of a gigantic tree, where they knocked violently on the door since the howling wind couldn’t let them hear properly. If they knocked too soft or too hard, they couldn’t tell. The noise was deafening.

The door opened up and out came a lavender unicorn with dark blue mane with a pink and a purple stripe in the middle of her fringe just as her hair was parted by her horn.

—“Girls!”

—“Hi Twi” —greeted Applejack.

—“Quick! Get inside! This storm’s getting worse at every second” —said the unicorn with a worried look on her face.

The two mares stepped in soaking wet and dried themselves. Twilight turned on the lights and stared at her two friends.

“Wow, you don’t look very good. Let me help you out!” —said the librarian.

The two wet mares felt a wonderful sensation as a gushing wind warmed their bodies and dried their pelts. Within a matter of seconds both were as dry as if they had stayed indoors all day. Whatever hint of hypothermia or a cold they were manifesting, it had gone now that they were warm and cozy.

—“Wow, Twilight that was awesome! Even better than my Rain-blow Dry!” —said excitedly Dash.

—“Well, it pays off as being both the Element of Magic and Princess Celestia’s pupil” —said Twilight in the most honest and natural way she could ever muster, like it was something she’d say in a casual conversation.

—“Where’s Spike?” —asked Rainbow.

—“Oh. He’s upstairs taking care of Owlowiscious and Peewee. Poor thing hasn’t left the house since the storm started, so Spike’s feeding him some seeds and food Fluttershy left earlier this week. Plus, they both keep each other good company while I’m gone. Anyways, girls. What brings you here?”

—“Well, me an’ Applejack came here to ask you a few questions.”

—“Applejack and I” —corrected Twilight.

—“Whatever. We have some things on our heads and we were wondering if you could answer them” —said Rainbow.

—“Sure, what’s wrong?”

—“Well…” —stammered nervously Applejack. “Ah’d be more comfortable if ah talked to ya in private. No offense sugarcube, but ah don’t intend for anypony to hear mah stupid questions.”

—“It’s no big deal” —said Rainbow with a wave of a hoof. “As long as you’re comfortable you just ask however you feel like asking.”

Twilight’s face bore a puzzled expression as she wasn’t exactly sure what were her friends talking about. She and Applejack walked over to a more faraway corner of the library to whisper without Rainbow —who was trying to eavesdrop despite her look of innocent filly— hearing what they were going to say.

—“So” —began Twilight. “What are you going to ask, AJ?”

—“Well, Twi. Ah’ve been wonderin’… Can someone get a curse?”

—“Well, sure. I mean, if you were cast one, of course. Why? What’s wrong AJ? Did some dumb unicorn put a curse on you?”

—“N-No! No, it’s not that. It’s jus’ that ah’ve been havin’ a rough week an’ ah was wonderin’ if ah was cast a spell.”

—“Well, do some things just magically appear to be against you?”

—“Not technically. They look more like coincidences rather than jus’ magic.”

—“Then what’s exactly the problem?”

—“Well, ah’ve been havin’ these… Things in mah head. Yeah. An’ it jus’ so happens that somepony is actin’ a lil’ strange, that’s all.”

—“Oh, AJ. It’s just you having a rough day. Surely you can overcome a bad moment. There’s nothing to worry about. You’re not cursed.”

—“Well, thank ya kindly Twilight” —said AJ, not entirely convinced of the answer she received. It was definitely not the answer she expected, so she turned around and proposed to leave.

“Ah’m leavin’.” —she said in a slight cutting tone.

—“That’s OK. We need to rest.” —said Rainbow with a slightly tired voice.

—“Bye, girls.”

—“Bye” —said both Twilight and Rainbow in unison.

—“So… What about you Rainbow?” —asked Twilight. “What is it that brought you here in the first place without having to crash through my window again?”

—“Ungh! Twilight Sparkle! I thought we agreed to never speak of it again!” —replied Rainbow in an angry and annoyed tone.

—“Heh heh. Yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, what brings you here?”

—“Well, the other day I had this… Thought. And I wondered if they might exist.”

—“They?” —asked Twilight Sparkle, not missing a bit how both of her friends paused to express themselves, obviously trying to hide something painful. “Who’s ‘they’, Dash?”

—“You know…” —said Rainbow. She then proceeded to make loud noises and make gestures with her hooves.

A spark of realization hit Twilight as she understood what her friend was trying to say.

—“Ooooooohhh!”

—“Yeah! You got it. Well? Do they exist? Huh? Tell me, please ” —begged Rainbow while stammering with that annoying fast-talk Pinkie usually did when she was curious.

—“Well, some ponies have said they’ve spotted them once or twice. No one ever found the exact place they saw them. Many of whom believe in such stories are tinfoil crazies that make up conspiracy theories, Dash. But, honestly, nopony has seen them and no one is sure.”

—“Oh” —said Rainbow with a tone of disappointment on her voice and an expression of relief in her face. “Well then. I’d better get going. I have something to do.”

—“Good luck, Dash” —said Twilight as she dismissed her friend.

—“Thanks Twi. Bye!”

And with that, Rainbow opened the door and took to the skies at high speed, leaving her trademark rainbow trail in her wake.

Chapter 6: An Act of Charity

Applejack walked slowly with her mind busy, a million thoughts swarming her head. Was she cursed? How could she? When was the last time she had got near a spell on her? It couldn’t be Twilight’s fault. She’d have known… Maybe… Maybe… Yes. That was a good one.

‘Maybe she’ll help me’— thought Applejack. She continued the long way to her family’s farm.

‘But not now… It’s too late'— she thought. The sky was already turning a slight purple, while most of it was now in a deep blue color, waiting anxiously for the night and for Princess Luna to raise the moon. The clouds that had caused the two friends trouble through the day were mostly gone by now.

All in all, Applejack thought this day was actually a very interesting one. Nothing could calm down the slight feeling of euphoria in her chest as she wished the next day would be just as good as this one.

‘Yes’ —she thought. ‘Nothing could make this better’.

___

‘Terrible catastrophe strikes the Equestrian Sea. Hundreds of ponies disappeared.’

The old newspaper page was turning brown from its antiquity and the edges were starting to look somewhat burned.

‘It seems like only one survivor made it out when the E.Q.A. Hippocampus sank. The Ponyville Express laments the loss of those 526 ponies whose remains authorities cannot find. The sole survivor seems to be in a state of shock, very catatonic and placed on intensive care. Whenever he was asked something by the press before being taken to the Canterlot Hospital, the pony seemed to become quite jumpy and started yelling incoherencies. We still don’t know what could’ve made him that unstable.’

“Ungh!” —she yelled. “This doesn’t help”.

___

Rainbow was galloping as fast as she could to escape the falling rain. She flapped her wings as hard as she could but more water kept pouring in. She was having trouble running with the puddles on the street making her slip every now and then. She wanted to fly back to her house until an idea popped in her head. Sure, it could wait until later and it was just a short thing, but it would help somepony (or someponies?) in need. That and that if she didn’t do it now, she’d forget the next day. She changed course and ran towards the Everfree Forest.

___

Fluttershy was preparing some tea for her. She had spent all day inside her cottage and it was getting a little cold, so a cup of tea would warm her up. She began to set everything for her when she noticed that five minutes had already passed. She picked up her ladle and served some soup. She poured it in a plate and went to serve it.

“Here ya go Angel Bunny. Some warm, nutritious, delicious, yummy-dummy soup for you” —said the yellow pegasus in her sweetest most caring, softest voice she could muster. Only a monster would deny eating that soup after hearing that. The white bunny cuddled up in a ball in a cushion tried to stand up and sniffed the dish before him. He slowly raised a paw and began to eat it. The poor little critter had been running around the cottage in the rain and was now starting to catch a cold. “There ya go. Eat up sweet thing, or that cold will get worse.”

The bunny looked up at Fluttershy with pleading eyes and smiled shyly at her. With another soft cough, the little rodent continued to eat his dish. Fluttershy looked at Angel with motherly eyes until something broke her concentration and brought her back to reality. Somepony was knocking loudly at her door. She cowered behind her large sofa and peeked through the furniture and her well-brushed pink mane. The knocking came back in a softer tone. She stood on all four hooves and went to answer it. She opened it with a little bit of trouble and was surprised at what she saw.

“Rainbow?” —asked Fluttershy.

—“Hi Fluttershy” —replied the cyan mare.

—“Come in. You’re awfully wet.”

—“Well thank you” —replied politely her friend.

Rainbow entered the small cottage and made herself at home. She stood near to the fireplace to dry her coat a bit while taking in the warmth of the place.

—“Hi” —said Fluttershy. “How have you been Rainbow?”

—“Well, pretty fine, thank you Fluttershy” —answered the cyan mare.

—“Have you had many nightmares lately?”

—“Nah…” —answered absentmindedly Rainbow Dash, still staring at the fireplace where some neatly-placed logs burned with a comfortable heat. “That was just one time, but I appreciate your concern Fluttershy”.

—“Um… What were you doing so late in the middle of the rain?”

—“I just came back from Twilight’s. Applejack and I needed to ask her some questions regarding the latest days.”

—“Well, um… How is Applejack? I-Is everything alright?”

—“She’s better now, thank you” —said Dash.

—“Well, I’m glad to hear that” —replied the yellow pony with a soft smile.

—“Me too, Fluttershy. Me too.”

—“Well, um… Not to sound rude, but… What brings you here? I-I mean. If you’re OK in answering” —finished Fluttershy with a shy smile.

—“Well, we got a bit of a problem.”

—“What’s wrong?”

—“Remember Applejack’s dog?”

—“You mean Winona? Is something wrong with her?”

—“Oh, there’s something wrong with her alright.”

—“What’s the problem?”

—“Nothin’” —said Rainbow in waving a casual hoof. “Just that she’s not around anymore.”

—“Oh dear. What happened?”

—“Well, nopony is sure. She’s been missing for four days straight.”

—“Well, is there anything I can do?”

—“Actually Fluttershy, yes there is. Applejack hasn’t instructed me to do anything or go anywhere, but I figured I might as well do something nice for her for once.”

—“Oh, really? What is it?”

—“Well, maybe you could search for her with the help of your friends.”

—“Oh, I’d be glad to. Poor thing must be scared to the bones for not being able to find the way home.”

—“Yeah. I’d do that myself, but you know I’m really impatient. That and that I’m not good with animals. Plus Cloudkicker would kill me if she found out I skipped work. Besides, I still wouldn’t find her. She’s really small and probably she found refuge in a nearby forest.”

—“Probably. It’d be her natural instinct to try to locate a tree or a cave to sleep in. She’s really smart after all. She’s probably still alive” —said the yellow pegasus with a thoughtful hoof on her chin.

—“Well, I’m glad to hear that” —said Rainbow. A sigh of relief escaping her lungs out through her words as she dried her lips.

—“I’ll see what I can do, Rainbow. Don’t worry. My critters will ask around the forests to see where she went. I know they’ll find her.”

—“Thanks Fluttershy, I knew I could trust ya.”

The yellow pegasus giggled and invited Rainbow a cup of warm tea they both deserved. The fireplace provided a cozy atmosphere that allowed them both to relax.

Chapter 7: Wanna Bet?

Chapter 7: Wanna bet?

Applejack woke up to a rooster singing to announce the morning. She had finally gone to sleep and woken up early, despite having again the same dream that took her sleep. She rose slowly from her bed and cleared her groggy eyes as she peeked through her window and smelled the fresh air. She looked upon her landscape and saw that the morning sun was barely peeking over, the dusk starting to grow a beautiful orange tone as it rose.
Applejack got out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. She prepared herself some eggs and pancakes just like last time and ate up fast. She stepped out into the farm careful not to step into the mud puddles that extended themselves for yards in the ground.

‘Should I head into the orchard this early? Big Macintosh surely hasn’t woken up yet. Maybe later. Yes, by then the mud puddles would’ve dried themselves and I can buck without getting any dirtier’ —thought Applejack.
This sounded like a pretty good plan. She’d go away for a few minutes (two hours at much) and return to her duties. She walked along the long path that led to Ponyville and got to the town square. The morning sun was starting to bath the entire town in its golden rays and Applejack couldn’t help to stop and watch the lovely landscape again. It was like her mind was in a dream-like sequence. What had sparked all of that, she didn’t know, but she wished it could stay like that forever.

She turned the path and went into the other side of town into the Everfree Forest. As she strolled along the cobbled streets into the outskirts of town, she began to realize how quiet the town was. It relaxed her and seemed to relieve her off the stress of her dream, making her forget about it.
She approached Fluttershy’s cottage and realized how charming the stream’s water sounded as she got closer and closer. Her senses became sharpened and took in the beautiful scene in front of her. The green meadow lit in golden sunlight was barely making any noise outside the occasional bird chirp and water stream. Fluttershy wouldn’t take long to wake up. But she continued her path into the Everfree Forest. Her senses had sharpened earlier to relax her. Now they had sharpened out of instinct: the Everfree’s monsters could be on the hunt and she certainly didn’t want to be any part of their menu.

She passed along the patch of poison joke ivy and walked around it, careful not to touch any of the flowers. She had had the unpleasantness of being “cursed” by the mysterious plants before and she wasn’t intending to repeat that same mistake, not now that she already had a curse to worry about.
Applejack came to a stop in front of a rustic-looking hut. She knocked softly as to not startle the pony living inside. She heard small hoof-steps and stepped aside.

“Hiya Zecora” —greeted the orange farm pony to a zebra with short mane and golden attires on her body.

“Greetings to you my friend” —answered the zebra. “What brings you here on these woods for you alone to attend?”

—“Well, Ah’ve been havin’ some issues an’ ah hoped you could help me with them.”

—“Council is what you seek, but beware for many troubles are quite unique” —said Zecora in her usual rhyme scheme.

—“Yyyyyeeeaah…” —said slowly Applejack as she tried to process the zebra’s verse. “Anyway, ah’ve been havin’ these weird dreams an’ ah thought maybe you could help me figure them out.”

—“Come in. Come in. Your secrets are no sin.”

Applejack stepped inside Zecora´s hut and sat on the floor. The zebra turned around and gazed her with inquisitive eyes.
“Tell me now kind kin, when did you nightmares full begin?”

—“Uh… ‘bout a month ago or so. Ah can’t exactly remember the day.”

—“You seem to be full of doubt. Tell me what this nightmare is about.”

—“Well, ah’m not sure where ah am. Ah can only see darkness. Then this blur in front of me appears an’ it gets smaller an’ smaller. Ah scream as ah feel mahself pulled back an’ ah gasp for air when ah noticed ah’m not breathin’” —finished Applejack.

—“Your tale is dark all the same, but this dream I’ve encountered has no name. Tis the first time I’ve heard of a dream where you yelp, I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help.”

Applejack let out a sigh as she tried to process the zebra’s rhythmic drones.

— “Thank ya Zecora.”

The orange earth pony turned around and walked back to the trail where she came from.

___
Applejack approached the town square deep in thought. She was so sure Zecora would help her with her problem. She had been disappointed for a second time. She kept walking until she slammed herself into a haystack.

“Huh?” —she snapped back. “What the hay? Oh. It’s just you Pinkie.”

The haystack turned around and spoke.

—“Awww. Why can you always tell who I am? Why does everypony always tell me apart?”

—“Sugarcube, yer the only pony who disguises herself as a trench coat, joke glasses-wearing haystack.”

—“Hmm… Maybe I need a better disguise.”

—“Ya think?” —asked a sarcastic AJ.

—“Well, yeah. I mean, I always get discovered when I’m like this. Duuh.”

Applejack just stared at Pinkie for a few silent seconds before the pink mare spoke again.

“You were being sarcastic, right?”

—“Of course! Jeez, Pinkie. Do ah need ta put on a sign that says ‘sarcasm’ every time ah open mah mouth?”

—“You have a sarcasm sign?!” —asked the party pony excitedly.

Applejack facehoofed and let silence creep in for a small lapse.

—“No, ah do not have a sarcasm sign” —concluded AJ in a defeated tone. She sometimes couldn’t tell if Pinkie was just oblivious to sarcasm or was just pretending to be dumb.

“Anyway, what’re ya doin’ out here at such an early hour?” —asked AJ trying to change the subject.

—“Oh! I’m waiting for Rainbow Dash.”

—“Why?”

—“Why not?”

—“Well, isn’t she supposed ta work today?”

—“I guess so.”

—“Well, are ya goin’ ta meet her afterwards or what?”

—“Nope, she and I don’t have any plans for today.”

—“Then what’re ya waitin’ her for?”

—“Nothing.”

—“Huh? So, she doesn’t know yer followin’ her?”

Pinkie stared into Applejack’s eyes seemingly thinking about an entirely different subject.

—“Doughnuts!”

—“What? Doughnuts?”

—“Yeah, I just made some.”

Pinkie had trailed off again.

“Oh there she is!” —exclaimed Pinkie. AJ was sure she hadn’t seen Rainbow’s streak anywhere near. Maybe Pinkie just wanted to get out of the situation. Whatever the case, she got out of her poor haystack disguise and bounced off into the distance.

Applejack headed on towards her farm with a lowered head. She continued on her path and reached Sweet Apple Acres entering from one of the alternate entrances of the farm. She didn’t see well with so many things and nothing on her mind (‘am I just nuts?’) so it didn’t surprise her much when she slammed herself again against a soft surface.
“Ow! Ah’m sorry. Ah wasn’t seeing an— Rainbow?”

The cyan pegasus turned around and righted herself.

—“Hey AJ.”

—“What’re ya doin’ here? Pinkie was lookin’ for you.”

—“She’s always looking for me. She follows me everywhere every once in a while.”

—“OK, but why are ya here? Ah mean, shouldn’t you be nappin’?”

—“Well, yeah, but I remembered what you said the other night and thought I might watch the sunrise and Ponyville from here.”

—“Yeah, it’s a beautiful day. What happened? Shouldn’t it be raining for the Summer Sun Celebration?”

—“Yeah, we kinda overdid it yesterday. Somepony screwed up. We still don’t know exactly what happened. I think it might’ve been a problem with the clouds. I always tell them the newbies shouldn’t be keeping an eye on the clouds. Maybe one of them couldn’t control them and they got carried away. Either way, we now need to make a sunny day to make up for this screw up.”

—“Oh. Well, good luck with that.”

—“You OK Applejack?”

—“Yeah, ah’m OK… Ah think ah’m OK. Thanks Rainbow.”

—“You sure? You don’t seem OK AJ. You look like you’ve just fin—”

—“Ah’m fine” —AJ cut off Rainbow coldly.

Rainbow glanced at her friend before she turned her gaze to her other side. An awkward silence crept in on the two friends before the rainbow-mane mare spoke again and broke the quietness.

—“So, got any plans for today?”

—“Ah need ta finish mah business.”

—“Oh… Right” —said sheepishly Rainbow.

—“Ah need ta get goin’. Or else they’d think ah’m foolin’ around.”

—“OK AJ. See ya around.”

—“Bye.”

Rainbow just stood there with her look on the horizon while AJ kept walking towards her house.
Upon her arrival, AJ didn’t want anything but sleep, but her train of thought got cut off when she saw Granny Smith sitting in her rocking chair by the fireplace.

“Hey Granny Smith. Sorry fer not bein’ here since dawn. Ah had some businesses ta handle.”

—“It’s OK dear.”

Suddenly an idea perked up on Applejack.

—“Um… Granny? How do you take off a curse?”

—“Well, you need to dance naked in the moonlight at full moon on a barrel full of Apple juice. That’ll solve the problem”

—came the old mare’s archaic reply. Applejack knew her grandmother couldn’t help her but she was desperate. “Oh, and Big McIntosh wants to speak to you, dear.”

—“Big Mac? What does he want?”

Applejack walked away into the orchard where Big McIntosh was plowing the fields. As soon as he saw her his face turned into a stern look.

“Wanted ta see me, bro?”

—“Yeah. We’ve got a problem, AJ.”

—“Tell me about it” —muttered the orange mare to herself.

—“What?”

—“Nothin’” —said AJ as she snapped back.

—“Look, AJ. Ah know ya have yer friends to visit, but yer business on tha farm’s been getting’ slow. Ya’ve gotten behind yer chores.”

—“Yeah?”

—“An’ even though ya’ve been tryin’ ta catch up, yer lazy attitude has gotten me on me.”

—“Lazy attitude?”

—“Ya don’t finish yer work an’ it’s always up ta me ta finish them off.”

—“Well, sorry if that was tha case, bu—”

—“Yeah, but apologizing will not solve tha issue.”

—“Ah’m sorry McIntosh, but yer not tha only one who’s havin’ problems in this house.”

—“Says you. Ya don’t have ta work on double.”

—“Ah worked mah flank off yesterday ta buck as many trees as ah could!”

—“And ya still have at least 40 acres ta cover up.”

—“40 acr—?!” AJ cut herself off as she realized her mistake. She had completely forgotten about the other acres that needed to be bucked. By this time of the season she’d be the one bucking them already, but her lag on her work made that impossible.

—“Ya see? Ah’ve been overworkin’ mahself ta finish yer work. An’ that’s still not enough.”

—“Well, ah’m sorry, but ah really have been workin’ hard lately.”

—“Well, it doesn’t show.”

—“Like you could do any better.”

—“Actually, yeah.”

—“Wanna bet?”

—“How ‘bout we change chores? Ah buck the trees an’ you make my duties ‘til the week after the Summer Sun Celebration.”

—“Deal!”

AJ raised her hoof and sealed the deal. As quiet and calm as her brother was, he was also stubborn like a true Apple family member, so AJ had no second guesses about making a deal that could hurt his pride —even though this wasn’t even a real deal. For such a small argument, AJ sure felt angry and wanted to just explode at that moment. She went to her room and wanted to shield herself from the world around her. She closed her eyes and three seconds later —or so it seemed for her— it became night. She had calmed down by this point and was starting to regret her decisions earlier that morning. But there was no turning back now. She hadn’t eaten anything but a rough breakfast so she felt weak. The next morning she was going to eat like a pig. Even though she was not angry, she was still frustrated, and Applejack just wanted to let the emotions go.

“Oh Rainbow” —she said as she spoke to the sky, thinking about the cyan pegasus that was probably snoozing in her cloud house at this moment judging by the time of day. “Ah really could use your presence right ‘bout now.”
Knowing she wouldn’t come, AJ turned back to her bed and slept until the rooster crowed.

Chapter 8: More Work?

Rainbow Dash awoke with a spinning head, the head rush making her go dizzy. She had tried to hide away from Pinkie all day long and her efforts seemed to be successful, which was a great achievement for her since Pinkie would appear on the most unexpected places and find you in seconds. She turned lazily and covered herself from the sun as she tried to go back to sleep. She stayed like that for half an hour until she slowly awakened herself. She stretched her back and fluttered her wings before going out to work.

___

The weight was killing her back, but she needed to go forward. She pulled harder as the yoke she carried advanced further and plowed the earth beneath her. Applejack was beginning to get tired and flashes of the nightmare filled her mind as she began to fall asleep. She shook her head and focused on the task upon her. The cloudy sky was threatening to make a drizzle, but she needed to plow at least three more rows before her work was finished. In a way, her switch of chores with Big Mac meant she had fewer work to do, but she being a mare and a younger pony than McIntosh meant her work had become harder than what she was used to do. She shook her head again both to keep herself focused and to shake away the drops of sweat off her coat and mane.

“*Whew* Just… A few… More… Rows… Hah!” —muttered AJ to herself as she kept pulling.

She was now up to one and a half rows before her work was done when all of a sudden a strange wind caught her off guard. She turned around and found out her Stetson was no longer on her head and for a small instant she caught a glimpse of a palette of colors.

“Rainbow Dash!” —yelled in annoyance the orange earth pony as she glanced up at the sky.

Her answer came in a matter of seconds as the cyan pegasus showed herself with AJ’s hat in one hoof.

—“Bwahaha! You should see the look on your face!”

—“Rainbow Dash, ah’m in no mood fer silly games.”

—“Chillax Applejack, it was just a little prank. Besides, it looks like it’s about to rain. I just got off work today seeing as how everything is done for today.”

—“Well it ain’t funny, ah tell ya. Ah just need ta finish plowin’ this field ‘fore ah can even think ‘bout restin’, so jus’ leamme alone fer now an’ don’t bother me.”

—“Sheesh, AJ. You really are worked up today. Can I come back later?”

—“An hour.”

—“An hour?!”

The cold look on Applejack’s green eyes made the cyan mare not question her friend’s actions as she flew off towards the sky to take a quick nap.

___

Applejack finished plowing the field and went to a barrel of water to freshen herself. The cold water against her coat felt relaxing as she cooled down her body and mind. She went to the barn just in time to meet McIntosh coming out. He didn’t even look at her nor did he direct any word at her. As calm as he usually seemed he sure felt furious towards his sister. Months of extra work loaded on your back will do that to anypony. The orange mare felt the anger inside her rise up, but before she could say or do anything (stupid) she saw a rainbow streak against the gray sky land on the roof of the barn just as McIntosh walked calmly away.

—“Rainbow! Down here, sugarcube!”

Rainbow peeked through the roof and fluttered down towards the ground.

—“Down? Why?”

—“Ah’m in the mood fer a walk.”

—“Seems fine to me.”

The two mares turned and walked down to the other end of the farm into another orchard where trees grew thicker. Rainbow’s eyes widened at the landscape she was witnessing.

“Whoa! I never saw these trees before. It may as well be a forest on its own.”

—“These are another brand of trees we planted. Apples grow bigger in these.”

—“That’s alright. I guess… Anyway, why did you decide to go for a walk?”

—“’Cause ah’m still worked up an’ I want my muscles ta relax a bit ‘till ah can rest.”

—“You looked really frustrated back there, AJ. It’s roughly 5:30 in the afternoon and you look wasted. How many trees did you buck?”

—“None.”

—“None?! Then how— Why—” —stammered Rainbow as she tried to understand the situation.

—“Mac an’ I got into a fight yesterday in the mornin’.”

—“And?”

—“And we switched chores ‘till a week after the Summer Sun Celebration.”

—“Whoa, AJ. Some fight you must’ve had.”

—“Nah, it was nuthin’. ‘sides, ah got a lot less work.”

—“You still look tired.”

—“Ah… Ya see, it’s jus’ ah’ve been tryin’ ta make mah work faster.”

—“Applejack, you’re a terrible liar. You know that?”

—“Alright, alright. It’s Big McIntosh’s work.”

—“No way” —came Rainbow’s snarky answer.

—“An’ it’s mighty exhaustin’.”

—“No. Really?”

—“It’s just that ah’m a younger mare an’ he’s a full grown stallion. That’s why ah’m exhausted.”

—“Wow. Thanks for the lesson, genius.”

—“Stop it” —said Applejack as she lightly smacked Rainbow’s head.

—“So this is it? You’re repaying your debt by making your brother’s work while he does yours?”

—“Well, according to him he can make mah work faster.”

—“So is this like a challenge?”

—“Not quite. There’s no winner or loser here. Just work.”

—“Sheesh that sure sounds boring.”

—“Tell me ‘bout it.”

The two friends continued to walk along the road until the sky looked threatening enough for rain to pour. With that on cue, the mares bid each other farewell and parted home. Applejack arrived on her room just as the rain started to pound her home. Tired, she fell like a log and slept for the remainder of the day.

Chapter 9: One Awkward Dialogue

The cold froze her pelt and numbed her body, but Applejack needed to keep going.

‘Just a little further. C’mon! C’mon!’ —she thought. If she failed, she wouldn’t forgive herself for the rest of her life. ‘Dear Celestia, no! NO!’ Applejack began to feel being pulled away as her lungs gasped for air again.

She awoke again panting and sweating. Her dream just wouldn’t go away. She started to wonder whether she was going to keep having these nightmares for the rest of her life.

‘Don’t be silly! It’s just a phase like wetting the bed. You’ll outgrow it’ —she thought again. Would she? She was starting to doubt and she was sure that if things kept going at this rate, then she’d go crazy in a matter of time.

She saw the sun starting to rise in the horizon, just as it did when she stayed in Manehattan as the rainbow streak of her best friend led her home.

She kept thinking of the dream as she was sure she was in for a treat of exhaustion and work. It had been days since her little “deal” with McIntosh, and while she was eager to prove her brother wrong (whatever the hay that meant), she was starting to regret the pact that was now taking its toll on her. The work was more that of a full grown stallion: more strong and apt for the job than a mare (even one like Applejack) and the more she thought about it, she came to realize just how immature the whole thing was: no winner or loser here, just two tired ponies. Applejack knew this, and she knew Mac knew this, but since they were both Apples, they were both stubborn and neither wanted to give up and accept they both were acting foalish.

Applejack got out of her bed and put on her Stetson as she readied herself for another hard day’s work. As she walked to the perch where she usually put her hat, she peeked through her door. She always left it ajar so she could easily get out of her bedroom in case of an emergency and she noticed McIntosh’s door on the other side of the hall was open. It was unusual of Mac to leave his door fully open, so she tiphoofed through the hall and into Mac’s bedroom. His window was open and a small sun beam obstructed her vision, but for what she could make out, McIntosh was nowhere to be found. She tiphoofed again, this time heading to the kitchen. Granny Smith and Applebloom were still asleep, so she didn’t want to wake them up. She went to the kitchen and made herself some cereal. After she was finished, AJ stood up and dizzily turned her head. She was still somewhat asleep so she went into the sink and splashed some water in her face to wake up. As she felt the cold drops in her eyes, the orange earth pony was ready to start working.

Applejack opened up with a lazy hoof the house door just in time to see a very nervous McIntosh heading towards the market with his mane combed and his pelt brushed.

“Weird. Big Mac doesn’t usually brush his pelt or his mane” —Applejack whispered to herself. She saw her brother walk down the path and decided to follow him. She knew she was delaying her work but her curiosity got the better of her and she went to the market to see the cause of McIntosh’s behavior.

As she approached the marketplace, Applejack could see Mac starting to assemble his apple stand. She stood there for 20 minutes looking at her brother at a considerable distance and staying hidden from his view. She started to bore and thought that going there was a waste of time, but just as she was turning around to head home and do her duties, Applejack spotted a familiar-looking, pink-maned yellow pegasus. From where she was standing, Applejack could hear the conversation that ensued. She raised her ears to make out what they were saying amongst all the ponies talking in the market.

“Howdy Miss Fluttershy!”

—“Um… Hello McIntosh.”

—“What can ah do fer ya?”

—“Oh! Um… Nothing, I just came here to buy some Apples.”

—“It’ll be mah pleasure ma’am!”

Applejack could see both ponies as red as the apples on the stand. She immediately assumed they liked each other. ‘But on second thought, Fluttershy blushes practically from everything. From this I can’t tell if she likes Mac or if she’s just nervous’ —she thought.

She got a little closer to hear the conversation, but she was suddenly startled by the presence of a third pony.

—“Aren’t they so cute together?”

—“Whoa!”

—“Applejack, dear, are you okay?”

—“Whew! Jeez Rarity, don’t startle me like that!”

—“I’m sorry. I was just walking by when I saw you among the bushes and decided to see what you were up to.”

—“Yeah, well. Ya got me” —answered AJ in a cold way.

—“I just had to see this, darling. You see, Fluttershy has been acting really weird lately. I know her very well so I started asking questions. The only thing I could manage to get was that she was interested in a stallion.”

—“Stallion?” —asked AJ. In all her life she hadn’t thought that a mare like Rarity would call her older brother a stallion the way she did.

—“Well, she didn’t say stallion, but it’s obvious. Poor thing’s been daydreaming a lot in our spa sessions.”

—“Maybe she’s just relaxin’ herself.”

—“I thought so too at first, but she babbles something in soft whispers every now and then. I’ve tried to make them out but I can’t understand them. This happens every time.”

—“Well, ah hadn’t thought that Fluttershy could fall in love with somepony. She’s always so nervous and reclusive.”

—“Me too, but quite frankly dear, love knows no boundaries. I just can’t wait ‘till all of us find our dream stallions. I can already picture them! I mean, you can date whomever you want, AJ, but still, I need to guide some of you, like poor Twilight Sparkle. If a colt came and dated her she wouldn’t know what to do.”

—“Well, ah haven’t had a coltfriend either. And ah’m almost quite sure most of us haven’t had either.”

—“Y-you haven’t?”

—“Well, ah don’t know ‘bout Pinkie, but ah’m quite sure Rainbow and me haven’t.”

—“Really? Why?”

—“Well, I can safely assure for both Rainbow and me that we haven’t had the time to think ‘bout colts.”

—“Oh well. Such shame! I need to prepare myself to train you gals into the art of seduction!”

—“Whoa there Rarity. Ah’m not takin’ any cutesy lessons from you.”

—“But AJ! What’ll happen when your first stallion comes? Will you know what to do?”

—“Ah’ll do what ah got to do when the time comes. In the mean time, ah don’t want any filly frou-frou from you.”

—“But—”

—“No buts Rarity. If ah need assistance ah’ll be sure to come to you.”

—“Well” —said a relieved Rarity. “Thank you Applejack.”

The two turned around just in time to see Fluttershy pay for her apples and turn around. McIntosh did the same as he grabbed more apples to put in the stand. Both Rarity and Applejack could see their red faces even if they were at a mile’s distance. Applejack bid Rarity farewell and returned to the farm to start working. McIntosh wouldn’t return in another three hours, giving Applejack enough time to make up for her work and advance a bit. By the time Mac arrived, AJ had already picked the corn and rounded the sheep as scheduled. Mac approached his sister with a stern pace and a calm look on his eyes. The kind of look one gives to someone they don’t want to look at in the eyes.

—“Howdy, AJ.”

—“Hey Mac.”

—“Listen, AJ. Ah need you to do me a favor.”

—“A favor?”

—“Well, not really a favor, but more in accordance with out little deal.”

Applejack slightly winced at the mention of the word “deal”. She started to regret herself for putting her into this mess.

—“What is it, bro?”

—“We’ve just ran out of mango seeds. Ah usually go to get them mahself, but the dealer’s on vacation an’ there won’t be any seeds ‘round Ponyville for another month or so.”

—“Lemme guess. Ah’m the one who’s gonna get those seeds.”

—“Eeyup.”

—“So where am ah supposed ta find them?”

—“Cape Howl.”

—“Cape Howl?! That’s too far!”

—“Well, if ya there’s where the best ones come from. Unless you wanna plant bad mangos.”

—“Alright, alright. When am ah parting? An’ how long am ah stayin’?”

—“Next Friday.”

—“Next Friday?!”

—“An’ you stay fer three days an’ two nights.”

—“But Mac. That’s when the Summer Sun Celebration starts!”

—“Well too bad AJ, but ya agreed ta do this.”

—“Alright, ah’ll go.”

With nothing more to say and the weather team piling up the clouds, AJ went to her room thinking about what she was going to do. She had only three days left before she set out for Cape Howl so she needed to think fast and organize herself so there could still be time to work, pack and talk to her friends.

Chapter 11: Hard News

“I know you hate being alone, but this’ll just take a moment, OK?”

Rainbow was in her cloud home addressing Tank before parting. The little reptile could do just fine on his own, but with Rainbow’s constant work he was always left alone. The tortoise waited anxiously for the next week when her owner was going to enjoy her summer playing with him with no royal celebrations to prepare. Tank nodded reluctantly and hovered around the house to kill time as Rainbow flew away.

The cyan pegasus flew towards Ponyville with ease. It had been a rough day and the Summer Sun Celebration was in just four days ahead. The scheduled rain had been programmed for early in the morning, but wind conditions delayed it for a couple of hours. With a bit of time on her hooves, Rainbow had picked Tank from Fluttershy’s cottage in the evening as usual when she remembered she had a business to finish. She flew over the little town to avoid the water puddles that were still left and headed to hear the information she had asked. She fluttered down and knocked on the door. A muffled “coming!” was heard behind the wooden barrier.

“Oh. Hi Rainbow” —said a cheerful lavender mare. “What brings you here?”

—“Hi Twi. Remember the favor I asked you a couple of weeks ago?”

—“Oh! Right!” —said Twilight, her good memory reminding her of the events of one stormy evening. “Well, I think you’d be happy to know I found something.”

—“Really?!” —replied an excited Rainbow Dash.

—“Yes, although I must inform you that the information is scarce. But come in!”

Rainbow obliged and stepped inside the comfortable atmosphere of the library as Twilight approached her levitating a thick book.

“Now” —began Twilight Sparkle. “It says here that they’re mythological creatures. No one is sure they exist and very few claim to have seen them around tall places. I could only discover they have a high-pitched screech.

—A screech you say?

—Yeah, the sound they make is very particular. That and a powerful flap of wings. Few can actually hear them before they attack. They make a sound when they spot their prey, which is why sometimes they’re called “the steel organs” or “the demonic organs”. The only thing they appear to eat are elephants.”

—“Ele-what?”

—“Elephants. Have you ever gone to a circus?”

—“Yeah?”

—“Remember those big, gray quadruplets that stood on balls?”

—“Oooooohh!” —replied Rainbow Dash as realization hit her.

—“Yes. That’s about the only thing I could find.”

—“Well, thanks a lot, Twilight!”

—“My pleasure as always Dash—” —said Twilight as she was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. Twilight left the book by a stand and went to answer the door. She opened the wooden entry again and before her stood a familiar orange mare. “Hi, Applejack!”

—“Howdy, Twi.”

—“Come in!”

—“Hey AJ!”

—“Rainbow? What in tarnation’re you doin’ here?”

—“Just gettin’ some business done.”

—“What brings you here, AJ?”

—“Well, ah need to tell ya somethin’.”

—“Really?”

—“Yeah. Ah won’t be able ta be with you on the weekend.”

—“That’s the day of the Summer Sun Celebration! Is something wrong?”

—“Ah need ta be in Cape Howl. Apple Family business.”

—“Oh… Well... Good luck.”

—“Thank ya Twi.”

—“Have you finished packin’, AJ?” —asked Rainbow Dash.

—“Ah’ll be done tomorrow.”

—“Wait” —interjected Twilight Sparkle. “You already knew?”

—“Since yesterday evening. I went to see why she was in her room so early. I can still see she’s a bit grumpy.”

—“Ha ha ha. Real funny. Anyway, ah gotta go. Ah need ta tell the others.”

—“Bye AJ.”

—“See ya, AJ.”

—“G’bye girls.”

Applejack turned around and left the library. Twilight then remembered her previous business and decided to continue.

—“So, is there anything else I can do, Rainbow?”

—“Um… No, I think that was it. Thanks Twi. See ya on Friday.”

—“Bye, Dash.”

Rainbow then flapped her wings and flew out from the same entrance Applejack had just walked out a few seconds ago.

“Hey, AJ!” —exclaimed, Rainbow.

—“Huh?”

—“Hi AJ. You ready for Cape Howl?”

—“No” —answered the orange earth pony coldly.

—“Hey. What’s wrong? Ever since you were told you’ve been really angry.”

—“Well, let’s just say ah’m not in tha mood.”

—“O-Kay? Well, what do you have planned after the Summer Sun Celebration?”

—“Nothin’ yet. Why?”

—“Well, I thought it’d be fun to hang out after months of work.”

—“Well ah don’t know, Dash.”

—“Aww, c’mon, AJ! You’re really tired. You really need something to get that load off of you.”

—“Well, thank ya sugarcube, ah’ll think it over.”

—“So where are you going now?”

—“Rarity’s. Then ah’ll go ta Fluttershy’s.”

—“Sounds good. Anyway, I’d like to chat, but—”

—“Rainbow Daaaaaaaaaash!” —exclaimed a high-pitched voice.

—“Oh, dear Celestia. No.”

—“What’s tha matter, sugarcube?”

—“I like her, don’t get me wrong, but I’m just not in the mood for her things, and you know how she can be, so if she gets me, there’s no escaping.”

—“Aww, c’mon Dash. Give the girl a chance.”

—“Ungh! I’d really like to, but—”

—“HI!”

—“GAH!” —exclaimed the two friends in unison.

—“Pinkie, where tha hay did ya come from?”

—“Well,” —started Pinkie. “I was born in a rock farm on the outskirts of—”

—“Ungh! Forget it, Pinkie. What do you want?”

—“Well, I thought it’d be great if we had some time together. Y’know… Pranks!”

—“Well, seems like ya don’t need me, sugarcube.”

—“No! Wait! AJ!”

—“C’mon, Dashie! I got a great idea!”

—“Ungh!”

One whoopee cushion, 30 meters of streamers, three helping hands and half a litter of invisible ink, Rainbow Dash was exhausted from playing pranks with Pinkie Pie. While she certainly did enjoy hanging out with the pink party pony, she was not in the mood for her. She did like her, but there were times she could not have the strength to tolerate her incessant babbling. Pinkie wasn’t an isolated case either. Rainbow had had bad moods with all of her friends before: Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and even Applejack, the pony she could call her best friend. Sometimes she was not capable of being in the same room with the pony that Rainbow was “mad”. This was something natural, and she knew everypony did this one way or another. Hanging out with someone too much could do this to anyone, and this time, it was Pinkie’s turn to be annoying.

“And then— and then— she screamed! HA HA HA HA HA HA! Wasn’t it funny, Dashie?” —said Pinkie between gasps for air. She had been describing the last prank on full detail and had been laughing uncontrollably for the past half hour.

—“Yes, Pinkie. I know. I was there” —said a very tired and bored Rainbow Dash.

—“Oh. Well, we should do this again.” —said the pink mare with her voice almost a whisper.

—“Listen, Pinkie. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible” —said Rainbow in a serious tone, like a mother who speaks with her child.

—“Oh?”

—“Yeah. I got a lot of work to do and I don’t think we can hang out on some time” —half-lied the cyan pegasus.

Pinkie then squinted as if trying to see into Rainbow’s soul. Just as Dash started to feel she was about to be discovered, Pinkie returned to her cheerful grin and happily replied “OK!”. She then turned around and began another weird dance/kick ritual as she walked away whilst singing something about drunken lullabies.

Rainbow turned around and flew back home, her chance of talking Applejack out of her grumpiness completely ruined and her mane still with some streamers hanging loosely. She needed to get back home and wash up a bit after her prank streak. She reached her home, washed up and laid back on her cloud bed with Tank on her hooves.

—“*sigh* Why has this week been so tough, Tank?”

The tortoise just half-grinned as it crept its legs into its shell.

The evening light created an orange aura around Dash’s house as it reflected itself on the clouds. Dash could only think on the next day when the final drizzle would be delivered before the Summer Sun Celebration that Sunday. A long day was expecting her and she’d better get a good sleep or face the wrath of Cloudkicker.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Applejack stood on the edge of the road. It was barely dawn and some hours of sleep on the carriage recovered a bit of the energy she lost after getting up at 5 A.M. The sun’s golden beams illuminated the beautiful landscape before her. But she was not here to enjoy herself. She was here for business.

The Everfree Forest expanded itself behind her. In front of her stood a beautiful little town with a gorgeous beach where lovers spent time together, and beyond that, the Amethyst Sea, with its rough waves perfect for surfing and sapphire-coloured waters that went perfect for a postcard picture. She had bid her friends goodbye one by one to let them know she was not going to be present on the Summer Sun Celebration with them due to some troubles she had, Rainbow being the only one who knew a bit more of the story. Her flying carriage had arrived for her at 5:30 A.M. and she barely had time to shower or eat, as if having nightmares wasn’t enough.

“Well, ah’m here.”

Chapter 12: Looking for Horseshoe

Applejack turned around. Her eyes blinded by the evening light coming out of her window. She had already ordered a room on the Fiesta Equestriana’s top floors, a comfortable medium suite where she could gaze upon the small town of Cape Howl with a view of the sea and a glimpse of the high cliffs that stood on the edge of the town.

The cliffs were on one side of the town’s edge where earth ponies and unicorns would fly off in gliders, some accompanied by their pegasus friends, on a small safe point. The other side of town was divided by a river where a bridge would link the two parts. Steep hills would stretch out to reach the cliffs and continue for some miles. Both the cliffs and the hills were covered in the carpet that was the Everfree Forest, the town making quite a view for anyone who would come out alive from there. The last scenario was rarely seen on both Ponyville and Cape Howl, and the only ponies that did come out alive only came in from the respective edges of the forest. That still did not stop the ponies from Cape Howl from making a safe point for gliders on one of the cliffs, only accessible by an elevator that went straight through the rock.

Applejack gazed down on the streets. Although she longed for a walk on the sand, she knew her duty was more important. Maybe after the Summer Sun Celebration would she have the time to appreciate her stay. Her mind wandered back home thinking about what her friends were doing. Rainbow was probably delivering the day’s drizzle; Fluttershy was probably on her cottage on her end of the Everfree taking care of her animals and Tank; Rarity was probably making the finishing touches of her Summer Fashion Line; Pinkie Pie was probably making preparations for the Summer Sun Eve party and gathering the ingredients for her cakes and Twilight was probably making a huge checklist to organize the celebration’s decorations.

“Well, might as well get this done already” —said the orange pony.

She grabbed her saddlebags and looked for a piece of paper. “Horseshoe Boulevard #20” said the address in her brother’s hoofwriting. She took the elevator and went down to the lobby.

“Leaving so soon, miss Applejack?” —asked the manager.

—“Ah’ll be back in a while” —replied AJ.

She went through the glass doors and into the street. She walked along the cobblestone alleyways and streets in search for the small store. She had once gone to the Howl, but she was very little and she couldn’t remember much. She saw a police officer and asked for directions.

“This way straight until you reach the roundabout. You then go through the diagonal alley and up through the steps. You’ll reach a narrow pass way. Turn right until the dead end and it’s straight from there until Horseshoe Boulevard.”

—“Thank ya kindly, sir.”

—“Good luck ma’am.”

AJ then set out to find her way. She walked straight to the roundabout. This was a crowded avenue from where she stood, both on the cobblestone pavement and on the sidewalks. Ponies walked in small groups of two or three or (rarely) four. AJ was slightly reminded of her time spent in Manehattan. She walked faster, crowds put her nervous. She reached the roundabout. A fountain was in the middle of it.

A marble statue of a crowned mare with a fish tale and a trident was sitting in a carriage pulled by other water ponies. Around the edge were various representations of fishes splashing out of the water and streams of water were swooping up and down all over it. Two streets intersected on the roundabout and a small alleyway went through diagonally from the back. Applejack crossed the street and stood a moment to appreciate the fountain. Some foals adorned a group of cannons near the base and a griffon and a bear stood on two different ends of the edge. Near the corners of the streets were four other identical fountains with a small foal hugging a fish. Looking far beyond the fountain was another marble fountain along the avenue on another roundabout. A stallion stood on a pedestal with four ponies sitting at each corner. Two puddles adorned the left and right side (or for AJ, the front and back side) with a lion’s head spitting a small stream of water into a small waterfall. The gentle squirts on the center of the puddles made it look like a moving mirror.

‘Wow, these ponies must have a lot of bits to make such fancy fountains’ —thought AJ. She faced the alley and rounded the fountain. The alley faced the statue’s back and went upwards into a set of steps.

The steps continued for yards until it made a turn. She kept walking until she reached an intersection with another alley. She continued her journey straightforward until she realized the alley was making itself narrower. She turned right when she saw another intersection. “Kiss Alley” read the sign.

She kept going through the alley and as she did, Applejack realized that this was not an ordinary neighborhood: small houses were inside the buildings, but so were some stores and even clubs. No one would have guessed that inside such cozy constructions would probably be DJ P0n-3 jamming beats in a club. She kept walking until she reached a dead end: a small fountain with a lion’s head coming out of the red wall adorning it. She turned left to the only way the alley allowed and a few feet afterwards she was coming out onto Horseshoe Boulevard. She saw it was full of cafés and small establishments, the street having been turned into a walking street where carriages were not allowed to pass. What made it different from alleys was the fact that it was wider than an alley, but not as wide as to permit the pass of a carriage (even if it could transit freely through there). She kept walking while trying to avoid the crowds until she saw it: #20 on Horseshoe Boulevard was a small red building with crossed bars on the windows, giving it a small Trottingham-style.

“Well, ah guess this is it” —mumbled Applejack.

She stepped inside the store as the small bell rang indicating the presence of a new customer.

“G’day! Welcome to the Seed’s Pouch!” —greeted the shopkeeper, an old beige pony with white mane.

—“Good day, sir. Ah’m lookin’ fer some mango seeds.”

—“Well, you’ve come to the right place young lady” —answered the old pony with a kind and gritty voice.

The shopkeeper stepped from out the counter and walked to the right side of the store, where many barrels rested against the wall, all filled to the top with different kinds of seeds. Some had a small scoop to pick the seeds; others had a weird faucet and bags to the side. The red atmosphere of the place made AJ feel like she was in a barn, and the smell of seeds like she was out in her orchard or in an apple convention in Fillydelphia.

The owner grabbed a scoop and filled a bag.

“So, what’s a lovely young filly like you doin’ in a place like this?” —asked the beige colt.

—“Jus’ business, sir.”

—“You should stay for the Celebration! We’ve got a beautiful firework show” —said the colt as he examined the bag and counted the price.

—“Thank ya sir. Ah’ll keep it in mind.”

—“Have a nice day, young lady!”

Applejack paid for her seeds, bid the shopkeeper farewell and left. She looked to her left towards the beach and realized the sun was starting to set.

‘What?! It’s 4 o’clock already?! I was sure I was keeping my pace!’ —thought AJ. Time had slipped by a lot for her, probably it took her a lot more to reach the store than she imagined. She went through another alley to go into the parallel streets of Horseshoe Boulevard, crowds always put her edgy. She walked through the sidewalk until she reached one of the main avenues that eventually led back to the hotel area. The walk through the alleys was long, but it wasn’t as long as walking all of Starswirl Avenue.

By the time she reached the hotel her hooves were killing her and she just wanted to rest. She stepped into the bath and washed herself; her sweat dissolving into the water as she scrubbed every inch of her body. Her muscles relaxed at the touch of the hot water and she wanted to lie there as much as she could. As she stepped out the bathroom, Applejack saw lights coming out of her window. She pulled the curtain and was surprised to see fireworks coming from the beach at the other side of the river accompanied by a light show, probably a small test before the actual Celebration. As she saw the spectacle from her balcony and the purple view of the sky setting in, Applejack wondered if she would have enjoyed seeing this with her friends or if they would be in the beach looking at the rest of the show. Whatever the case, AJ wanted to be home, and would give anything for something to keep her busy while she stayed in Cape Howl.

Chapter 13: A Very Tough Day

And she stopped. She stopped because her trick hadn’t gone well, but whatever the case it needed to improve. She fluttered to a cloud and snuggled it as she pondered what had gone wrong: her turn was good, her angle was right, so why did her move feel so off? Was it the wind? Nah, that couldn’t be right. The weather was perfect today! Was it her wings? She fluttered her blue feathers, but nothing was wrong. So why did i— what the…? Did she just hear…? Nah, that was impossible. Well, her wings seemed fine but— there it was again. High-pitched sound pierced her hearing. Confused, she looked around. She didn’t see it, but she was sure it was near her. She looked around once more and…

*Ka-thump!*

“Ow!” —whined Rainbow Dash. Out of all the ways she awoke, this was the one she hated the most.

She stretched out her wings and her limbs. She didn’t have to get to work until afternoon, so she went to her bathroom and splashed her face to wake up: an advantage of living in the clouds was that there was never a water shortage.

This was it: this was the last day of work before the Summer Sun Celebration. The only thing Rainbow needed to do was work normally, not screw up and enjoy her day. If she didn’t… She didn’t want to think of her punishment, mostly because Cloudkicker was going paranoid and today was going to be the last day, so the only important thing to do was not set her off.

With a clear mind, Dash went out the door to make her no-mistakes day.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Alright girls, what’re we gonna do ‘bout it?!” —asked Applebloom.

—“Throw her in mud?” —suggested Scootaloo as she played with her set of stickers.

—“No, it’d be too easy.”

—“Oh, I know!” —interjected Sweetie Belle.

—“Yes, Sweetie Belle?”

—“What if we write her a love letter and sign it anonymously? We start it romantically and end it by telling her how much she sucks.”

—“Scootaloo?”

—“I’m game” —she said as she removed a sticker from her hoof.

—“So, it’s decided then: We’ll write a love letter to Diamond Tiara about how much a meanie she is!”

—“I’ll do it! Let’s go Sweetie Belle! You can help me out!” —offered Scootaloo.

—“Sure! Let’s do this. Now, what color is Diamond Tiara’s coat?”

___

“Are you girls finished?” —asked an anxious Applebloom.

—“Almost” —answered Sweetie Belle. “Scootaloo! Focus! Stop playing with your hoof-made Rainbow Dash stickers!”

—“Sorry. Um… Oh! I got it!” —exclaimed the orange filly as she finished writing.

—“Let me see!” —squeaked Applebloom. “Yes, this is good, but, shouldn’t we leave something as a signature?”

—“Nah, it’s cool as it is” —said Scootaloo.

—“Yeah, signing it would make her suspect something” —interjected the expert Sweetie.

—“Oh! Oh! How about this?” —said Scootaloo as she wrote the final touches on the letter.

—“Perfect!” —said Applobloom as she read the ending. “Now, ah gotta get ta make the order of muffins Big McIntosh wanted. You girls should head home.”

And with that, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo headed to their houses as Applebloom wrote down her order of muffins. The young filly finished writing and folded down the paper, ready to be delivered to Sugarcube Corner.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The bell rung as a new customer stepped in.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” —exclaimed the pink mare behind the counter.

—“Hi Pinkie Pie!”

—“Hi Applebloom!”

—“Ah came here ta leave the order of muffins ah asked fer big McIntosh.”

—“Nooooo problema! Leave it on the counter, I’ll read it later.”

—“Thanks, Pinkie Pie!”

The yellow filly walked out of Sugarcube Corner and headed home. Pinkie walked into the kitchen and grabbed two trays of baked pastries, which she left on the counter. Since some were still in the oven, she decided to read the order of muffins Applebloom requested.

“Pinkie Pie:

I’d like to order some muffins for my ~~broder~~ brother. He loves Apple & ~~Sinnamon~~ Cinnamon and Banana flavors, so I thought of ordering him a pack of six muffins with three of each. He says he wish hed come, but the farm’s been keeping him busy, so he apologises for it.

Thank You.”

She finished reading and turned to grab a couple of muffins when another sheet of paper flew loose. She picked it up and noticed the cloud and rainbow lightning bolt on the back. She began to read it with impatience. A letter from Rainbow Dash? Since when was she writing letters to anypony?

“My dear sweet sugar cube,

Since the moment I saw you I thought you were the best filly in the world. Hearing your laughter made me feel like I was up in the clouds and your face reminded me of those of a Princess. I thought your regal attitude was what any pony would look forward in a girl, and I couldn’t wait to wrap my hooves around your pink coat."

Wrap her hooves? Who knew Dashie was this romantic?

"Sadly, that is not the case with you. You are self-assorted in your world and only think of yourself. You are the most selfish girl I have ever seen. You don’t care about anyone and your gossipy attitude drives everyone crazy. I made a big mistake in thinking that you and I could even get somewhere. You are my worst mistake and I hope to never see you again.

P.S. I won’t bother in signing, since probably you don’t even remember me.”

Pinkie Pie felt smashed. She felt the world going in circles around her. Her heart slowed down. She didn’t want to live anymore. Was she really selfish? Was she really self-absorbed? She didn’t care. What was the purpose of living if one person didn’t want to be her friend? Her hair deflated and she turned glum as she went crying to her room.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Oh, it’s not a big deal” —said Fluttershy.

—“Alright” —said Rainbow Dash. “Take care little fella. I’ll be back for you.”

Sure of her decision, Dash left Fluttershy’s cottage as the tortoise was left once again to the yellow pegasus care. It was just one more day until the Summer Sun Celebration and the only thing Dash needed to do was take care of a small drizzle for noon and everything would be in order.

_________________________________________________________________________

“Ooops, my bad.”

—“Derpy! Watch where you’re flying!”

Derpy hooves had bumped into another pony again. Her lazy eye made her constantly lose her balance. The drizzle had already started and everypony was trotting to get away. It made them wet, but they didn’t need any umbrellas, especially since it was going to be the last drizzle and it would be a short one. She spotted a distinct cyan mare and approached her.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” —she exclaimed.

—“Hey Derpy” —answered a very tired Dash.

—“What are you doing?”

—“Just finishing a drizzle with the weather team.”

—“Is there anything I can do to help?”

—“No! Uh— I mean… No, Derpy. Not for now.”

—“Oh, well. I just wanted to help, that’s all” —said a disappointed Derpy.

—“Oh… Well, if you take care of these clouds for a while, then that would help a lot.”

—“Great!”

—“Yeah, I’m gonna take a break.”

—“Oh, can you please pass on to Sugarcube Corner? I’d love a couple of muffins.”

—“Sure, why not? I guess I gotta pay you somehow.”

—“Yay! Thanks, Rainbow Dash!”

With her situation controlled, Rainbow Dash flew away to get a break from all the work and went to Sugarcube Corner, where she needed to not only get Derpy’s muffins, but also to speak to Pinkie Pie. Without Applejack (even for a day), she sometimes needed to speak to somepony, so she guessed Pinkie would be a good alternative.

She arrived at Sugarcube Corner and the bell rang.

“Welcome, Rainbow Dash.”

—“Huh?”

Behind the counter was Mrs. Cake.

“Mrs. Cake? Where’s Pinkie?”

—“She’s upstairs. Poor girl went to her room and closed it shut. She won’t open and I don’t know what happened. I’m worried about her.”

—“Well, I just want an order of muffins. Then, I’ll go talk to her.”

—“Oh, please be a dear and do so.”

—“Now that I think of it, where is Mr. Cake anyways?”

—“Oh, he went to take the babies on a stroll. He left me in charge of the bakery” —said the blue mare as she put 6 muffins in a bag.

—“Oh, alright. Thank you Mrs. Cake, and don’t worry. I’ll talk to Pinkie.”

—“Good luck, dear” —said Mrs. Cake.

Rainbow grabbed the bag of muffins and put it in her saddlebag. Afterwards, she went to Pinkie’s room. Pinkie’s apartment was at the topmost part of the bakery, with the second floor being her bathroom. Rainbow approached the room and a chill ran down her spine. Everything was suspiciously quiet.

She raised a nervous hoof and knocked on the door.

“GO AWAY!” —yelled a voice inside.

—“Pinkie? Pinkie! It’s me! Rainbow!”

—“Rainbow?!” —yelled back the pink mare.

For a moment Rainbow felt relieved. Like she could see Pinkie had realized it was her and decided to calm down and let her in. Instead she heard hoofsteps and was surprised when she got an angry pink face pressing against her nose.

—“What do you want, Rainbow?” —asked Pinkie, putting more emphasis on her name.

—“I was just passing by and heard you locked yourself. I just wanted to see if you were O.K.”

—“Since when are you so worried about me? Didn’t you say I was selfish? So why would you even bother to see me?”

—“Pinkie I don’t know what you’re talking abou—”

—“Really?! Because unlike you, I do. See? I do remember! And you said I didn’t. Rainbow Dash” —there it was again. The same emphasis on her name, like it was a grave insult of some sort.

Pinkie turned around and climbed the stairs back into her room. Rainbow followed suit. Pinkie was obviously angry, but Dash didn’t want to take risks. This was not the first time she saw her friend like this, so she was worried about what she could do to herself.

She stepped inside Pinkie’s room. Although she was not happy to see her friend like this, she was glad that at least Sir Lents-a lot, Madame LeFlour, Rocky and Mr. Turnip were not present. Pinkie grabbed a knife with her right mouth and approached Rainbow.

—“Whoa, Pinkie. No, don’t do it! I’m sure we can get to some sort of agreement.”

—“What? Now you wanth thoo depraph me frum my fav’rite fooths ath well?” —said Pinkie. She approached Rainbow wielding the knife and… Cut herself a big slice of pink cake, probably stolen from the counter hours ago to keep herself from going out again.

Dash let out a relieved sigh she didn’t know was holding.

“So, why are you here, Rainbow? What was that about not wanting to see me again? Did your other ‘friends’ let you down?”

—“I don’t know what you’re talking about Pinkie. Why are you acti—?”

—“LIES!” —yelled Pinkie.

—“Huh? What in the hay?”

—“Do you recognize this?” —said Pinkie as she flailed the letter in Rainbow’s face.

—“What is this?”

—“Oh, you don’t remember? Well, I guess having your head in the clouds keeps your mind numb. Oh, and I do know what that means, unlike you.”

What? Since when did Pinkie assume Rainbow didn’t know some words? In fact, when did she boast herself to be treated like this? Yeah, there was that Mysterious Mare-Do Well incident, but that was water under the bridge and the lesson was learned. Why was she bringing this up (she was, wasn’t she?) again?

“Go away Dash. Go back to your pathetic job and leave me alone.”

Pinkie kicked Rainbow out of her room and closed the door again. Rainbow was not sure why Pinkie acted so tough, but she certainly needed to see that letter. She had only seen a big blur of black and white, so there was nothing she could see per se. Too bad Pinkie kept the letter to herself.

Rainbow let a frustrated sigh and walked out to the front door.

—“Did she come around?” —asked Mrs. Cake.

—“No, Mrs. Cake. She didn’t.” —answered a defeated Rainbow Dash.

With that, the cyan pegasus left the bakery and flew away.

She kept soaring the sky, but her mind was elsewhere. She needed to talk to someone, but she wasn’t sure who could be the one. Twilight was surely making huge checklists for the Summer Sun Celebration; Fluttershy was taking care of her animals and Dash didn’t want to upset Tank for a faux visit, so she wasn’t an option. This only left Rarity for the job. She flew towards Carrousel Boutique and landed on the entrance.

The bell rang as she entered the store.

“Hello?”

—“In a minute!”

In a matter of seconds Rarity appeared from the back of the store.

“Rainbow Dash? Oh, dear, what brings you here?” —said the white mare with a concerned look on her face and a gleeful smile.

Rarity’s mane looked unkempt, like she just woke up.

—“What happened to you?” —asked Rainbow.

—“Oh, this? This is just a side-effect” —said Rarity.

—“Well, I’ve got a problem.”

—“What’s wrong?”

Rainbow didn’t know where to start. There were so many emotions going through her about the whole Pinkie incident that she didn’t know how to tell Rarity about everything. Then there was the wording problem. Rainbow Dash had learned to keep her mouth shut t times, and she had learnt it the bad way. She always said things like how they popped themselves into her mind, and sometimes the words were not carefully thought, so she ended up having everypony shooting scornful looks at her. She carefully thought how to approach the subject and how to say things as to not offend Rarity, who aside from all of that was obviously stressed.

—“Well, um…”

—“Yes?”

—“Mmm… Rarity, how would you react if I told you your job was pathetic?”

As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted everything. Rarity looked at her with the angriest look she had ever seen come out of her.

—“What are you implying Rainbow Dash?!”

—“N-nothing! It’s just tha—”

—“Are you saying my dresses are horrible?!”

—“N-no! Of course no—”

—“Because I work hard on them, you know?!”

—“I’m fairly certain you do, bu—”

—“Are you implying, then, that my work is worthless?!”

—“No, I’m not. What I’m trying to say is—”

—“You know, if you don’t like my dresses, then fine, you can tell me. But don’t you ever. Ever. Dare to say I’m pathetic.”

—“Wha—? But…”

Rarity made her look angrier, telling Rainbow in the most subtle, non-yelling manner to get out of the boutique.

With that sign, Dash turned around and flew away. What was it with everypony today? It was probably a coincidence, but it sure as hay didn’t seem like it. Pinkie was a mystery, but Rarity was understandable: she was really stressed, and her perfectionist attitude had put her on the edge. Still, she didn’t quite understand her sudden burst of anger. ‘I mean, she had no right to get angry. She’s not pathetic. She knows it, I know it, and I was not implying that. If I had asked her if her job was pathetic, then I guess she’d have a point, but this was not the case, so why did she get angry all of a sudden? Why did she make a big deal out of something we both know is not true? And why did she keep saying things I did not say?’

“Ungh! Why is everypony so crazy today? Has everyone lost their mind?” thought Dash aloud. She was so angry she could buck the first person that came across her.

—“Hey, Rainbow Dash!”

Dash turned around and saw Derpy. She got her muzzle to her saddlebag and took out the bag of muffins, throwing it at her.

—“Here ya go, Derpy!”

However, her anger seemed to take the better of her because as she delivered them, she did it with such a huge force that when she gave them to Derpy, the poor grey pegasus went flying into the nearest cloud. The impact came with such a force that the cloud altered the others and the rain came pouring down. First one cloud, then the other, then the other. Soon the storm was out of control.

—“Who did this?!” —asked Cloudkicker as she gathered every team in one place. “Derpy! Was it you?”

Derpy was shocked by the accusation. She was not even a weather pony and she was being yelled at for something she didn’t do.

“How many times do I have to tell you to watch where you’re flying?!”

—“She didn’t do it” —said Rainbow Dash, trying to defend the poor filly. “I did.”

—“Rainbow Dash?” —Cloudkicker’s look was perplexed.

—That’s right. If you’re going to punish someone, then let it be me. “

Derpy looked as if an angel had saved her life.

—“I’m sorry, Dash” —said Cloudkicker with a disappointed tone in her voice. “But the rules are the rules. You have a day to leave. If I see you tomorrow, I’ll need to fire you.”

—“What?! But—”

—“No ‘but’s. These are orders from above… I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go for tomorrow.”

—“But tomorrow’s the Summer Sun Celebration!”

—“Precisely. They don’t want anyone goofing around tomorrow, so anyone caught making the slightest trouble is getting banned from the local Celebration and sent elsewhere.”

—“So where should I go?”

—“That’s up to you. Maybe there’s somepony outside of Ponyville who can let you a have bed for a night.”

Rainbow Dash was angry, but it all seemed so logical she didn’t want to argue. She had had enough of ponies yelling at her for today. Tomorrow Ponyville was going to awake with mud puddles all over town, so she knew she had really messed things up.

With a lot of things on her mind, Rainbow Dash walked away deep in her thoughts. ‘And then, packing time’. This was going to be a long night.

‘Alright! First things first!’ —she thought. ‘I need to tell the others about today. Pinkie Pie is obviously out of the question, and Rarity is probably still making a fit and would probably ban me from the boutique like that one time, so I guess I’ll see Twilight first and then Fluttershy.’

___

“What?! Tomorrow?!” —exclaimed Twilight as the news hit her. “But tomorrow’s our weekly Pony Pet Play date! And we had already agreed to see the fireworks at the Celebration!”

—“I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s either that or my job.”

—“First Applejack, and now you! There’s nothing that can worsen things.”

—“Um… Actually…”

—“Actually what, Rainbow Dash?” —said Twilight through gritted teeth.

‘Oh no, not again. More yelling? Haven’t I had enough already? Well, I might as well tell her quickly before anything worsens.’

—“Um… Pinkie Pie is sad and Rarity is angry.”

—“And?”

—“Heh… Twilight… I think I may have to repeat myself: Pinkie Pie is sad and Rarity is angry.”

—“You mean sad and angry or—?”

—“Oh, no. I mean sad sad and angry angry.”

—“Oh, no. Why today? I mean, if we don’t get together then we can’t have fun, and if we can’t have fun then maybe trouble will arise and if trouble aris— *pluck!* OW!” —exclaimed the lavender unicorn as she rubbed her head. Rainbow had smacked her to keep her from rambling.

—“Twi! It’s gonna be alright! It’s just one day! Besides, it’s not like the princesses will be here. They’ve chosen another place to host the Celebration! Chill down, nothing’s going to happen.”

—“Still, I was hoping we could enjoy this day… As friends…”

—“C’mon, Twi! Don’t get so down! Maybe next year will be better.”

—“*sigh* I hope you’re right Rainbow. I hope you’re right.”

After talking about her plans, Dash ran out of Twilight’s library and went to Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight had asked her if she could help with the packaging, but Rainbow had refused: Twilight was already stressed enough with preparing the Summer Sun Celebration to further make her mind busier. As she neared her timid friend’s hut, Rainbow felt guilty in telling Tank about the situation she had created. She could already see the little tortoise’s sad eyes in front of her.

‘Snap out of it! It’ll be OK!’ —she told herself.

She knocked on the door and waited for a response. Within a matter of seconds, Fluttershy was standing in front of her with a slight grin on her face.

“Rainbow!”

—“Hey Flutters” —answered Rainbow with a sheepish grin.

—“Come in, you’re soaking.”

—“Well, I just needed to drop by.”

As she rubbed the back of her head, she saw Tank the tortoise fly up to her with an excited smile on his little face. Dash’s heart tugged at her. She knew the little guy would not like being told to stay again.

—“He really missed you, you know?” —interjected Fluttershy, snapping Rainbow out of her thoughts.

—“Oh. R-Really?”

—“Yeah, poor guy. In the end he met with his old mates and played with them. It seems he sometimes forgets his situation so he doesn’t feel so lonely.”

Rainbow gulped. What she was about to say would not be hard for either of them.

—“T-Tank? I’m sorry. I’m really really sorry.”

—“Is something wrong, Rainbow?” —asked a concerned Fluttershy.

Rainbow took a deep breath and sighed. ‘Here we go again’ —she thought.

—“I have to leave tomorrow.”

As she expected, Tank’s face frowned as the words left her mouth.

—“Why?”

—“Because of that” —said the cyan pegasus, pointing a hoof at the storm outside.

—“B-but why?”

—“Orders from above. Anyone causing havoc in the weeks prior to de Summer Sun Celebration is to be banned and sent elsewhere.”

—“Oh. So what are you going to do?”

—“Pack.”

—“And what about…”

Rainbow didn’t let her finish. She slowly walked to her tortoise and looked at him in the eyes.

—“I’m sorry, tough guy. But I need to go. Do you think you can hang in for a couple of days without me in here? Fluttershy’ll take care of you.”

The last part seemed to lighten the green reptile up as his eyes sparked with hope of seeing her owner again and not being abandoned.

“I swear I’ll try to be back as soon as possible, but until then, take care of Fluttershy for me.”

Rainbow quickly neared her yellow-colored friend and whispered “Please take care of him for me.”

With this, the multi-colored-maned pony ran off and into the storm to try to reach her house. This was indeed going to be a long night.

Chapter 14: Summer Sun Eve

As her carriage stopped, she awoke. She had left Ponyville at 7 in the morning and it was almost midday when she arrived. The sun was beating hard down on her face, so a hoof to the front managed to block the light and cool her face.

___

Morning came and the sun’s light slowly crept up Applejack’s bed. She stretched herself and opened up the curtain. She went out to the balcony and breathed deeply. The smell of the sea and the warm breeze made the perfect mixture for an inviting stroll through the beach. She grabbed her saddlebags and took out an apple. After a few bites, she went for the door and threw the apple core on the trash can. She turned around and pondered. Would she need her saddlebags? Nah. She was going to stroll through the sand for a couple of minutes, so it would be wise to leave her stuff on the room and come back later. She exited her room and locked the door behind her.

The beach was thriving with ponies from all colors and sizes. Mares bathed in the sunlight on racks and foals built sand castles. Some fillies were playing volleyball with a beach ball and stallions drank cool cider to freshen themselves.

“Hey babe! Lookin’ good!” —yelled a colt.

Applejack just rolled her eyes and walked past him. She had heard of the rudeness of the country boys by Rarity and some of McIntosh’s anecdotes, but she thought they were exaggerating a bit, maybe because she spent so much time in Ponyville was the reason she didn’t think much of this. She thought they were some honest-to-good people who just Rarity and McIntosh didn’t like. How wrong she had been. Every single one of them drinking cider, getting a bit of alcohol in their blood streams. They looked pathetic. Maybe taking a stroll through the beach wasn’t such a good idea. She could see that this wasn’t a place for her, and she desperately needed to go back to Ponyville. At least there, her friends were expecting her. She started to feel homesick again, and thought that maybe she needed to rest her head a little (‘you just woke up, you silly filly!’). The heat was beginning to take its toll and made Applejack dizzy. Maybe she just needed to eat something, maybe it was her insecurities spinning over her head, maybe it was—

“Oomph!”

Applejack had stumbled upon a lifeguard. His strong body accentuating itself over the intense heat.

“Hey! Watch it!” —said the stallion.

—“Sorry!” —answered AJ.

—“Can’t you see where you’re going?!” —replied the lifeguard.

—“Ah said ah’m sorry!”

—“Well, saying is not enough. Also, now that I take a good look at you, let me clarify that we don’t allow your kind to be arou—”

—“Hey! Lighten up, pal!” —someone replied. “She said she was sorry, didn’t you hear?”

Applejack turned around to look at the pony. She was sure she had heard that voice. It almost sounded like…

—“Rainbow? What the hay are ya doin’ here?”

—“Back off, you. Don’t mess with her.”

The lifeguard glared at her and turned around as he realized his mistake, angrily walking away.

“Sorry about that, heheh. Colts are just not too bright over here. The heat, you know?”

—“What the hay are ya doin’ here? Shouldn’t ya be back in Ponyville?”

—“Long story short, I got banished.”

—“Banished?”

—“Yeah, it seems to be a new rule this year: ‘Anypony doing mischief or causing trouble prior to the Summer Sun Celebration will be temporarily banished from town’.”

—“Wait, but the Celebration’s going to be celebrated here as well, shouldn’t you be… Uh… I dunno, in the Everfree Forest?!”

—“Yeah, well, they didn’t specify where I should go. Also, they never mentioned I was banished from all of the Celebrations, did they?”

—“So yer just figured you could come ta the beach?”

—“Not exactly. I needed somepony to crash for the night. They gave me a half-a-day warning, so I thought: ‘who is the one pony I know who can give me a bed to sleep with no trouble?’ I thought of you, of course, but Appleloosa and Phillidelphia are too far—”

—“And this isn’t?” —asked Applejack sarcastically.

—“Yeah, it is. But I don’t know anyone in Phillidelphia. And Appleloosa would only let me crash if I came with you. So the only logical conclusion I had was to track you down and crash in at your place. I knew you had gone here to the Howl because you told us so, so all I had left to do was ask your brother which hotel you were staying at. Since there is nothing to do today before the Summer Sun Celebration Eve, I figured you had gone for a walk at the beach.”

—“Wow, Rainbow. Ya can think after all!”

—“Shuddup!”

—“Well, ah think it’s nice of you ta drop by.”

—“Cool! So where should we go then?”

Applejack thought for a minute before answering.

—“Well, ah gotta send in some mail fer mah brother, but first let’s get away from this consarned sun!”

They went into a long shadow under a tree and waited for the sun to lower itself a little bit. They then went for the post office to drop the seeds AJ had bought the day before to be sent to Ponyville.

“But why did you have to buy seeds in the first place? Shouldn’t the trees back at the farm give you some?”

—“Well, yeah. But some bugs appeared on spring and killed every single one of them, so we had to chop them off and wait fer summer to buy the seeds.”

—“Oh.”

They dropped the shipment and went for a walk. Rainbow insisted they pulled some pranks, but Applejack wasn’t in the mood, Rainbow already had enough problems, and she definitely didn’t want them both to end in jail for the night. How much fun they’d have in a cell in the Summer Sun Celebration Eve. Such a wonderful time and a great anecdote to tell the others. She figured touring a bit of the town would be a good idea. Neither of them had left Ponyville (although Rainbow seemed to know the beach boys a lot) and didn’t know squat from the town except maybe from a couple of postal pictures. They sneaked inside a touring group and began to follow them.

“And here” —began the tour guide as she pointed a hoof at the fountain AJ had seen the day before “we have the Statue of Amphitrite. Built in the 30th anniversary of the town’s founding, it represents our deep connection with the sea. With the passing of time, someone dedicated a popular song to it: ‘Shoo-bee-doo Shoo-shoo-bee-doo’.”

—“The song is annoying! It sucks!” —yelled a young colt in the group, prompting many laughs in agreement from the rest of the ponies.

—“Well, it is. But believe it or not, back then it turned out to be one of the most popular songs of the time, and ponies sang it from time to time. And here we have the Fish Fountains adorning the main corners of the roundabout. They represent nothing and were made for esthetic reasons. Now, we don’t have the time to walk over there, but, can you see that fountain way over there?” —asked the guide as she pointed another hoof at the statue that was along the avenue. “That is the statue of Brizo, the protector of sailors. The four mares in the corners of the pedestal represent Equestria, the Sea, Hope and Perseverance. The lion heads shooting streams are meant to represent the savageness of the sea being dominated by ponies. Equestria and the Sea watch alert as ponies embark on their journeys, with Hope guiding them home and Perseverance moving them on.”

‘Wow, so cute.’ —Applejack thought. She was never a mare for art, but once she got into thinking about these things with no worry behind her, she could really appreciate the beauty of things.

They moved onwards to the diagonal alley that AJ had taken the day before and continued on towards the maze of alleyways and dead ends that made the upper part of Cape Howl. They began to see the stories behind the alley’s names and features. One alley had a wishing fountain where it was said that good wishes would come true, while evil wishes could curse the pony who cast it. Another was the source for a pony’s poem long ago, which as both mares could see, was fairly popular for colts to dedicate to their fillyfriends. Another was the Music Alley, where ponies would sing love songs through the night. Some alleys had theatre shows of old plays of yore (and both AJ and Dash would later find out it was not a temporary thing, rather than permanent). Some had funny stories behind them, like one in which dogs chased a burglar down the alley and bit his rump, causing the alley to be named Rumpbit Alley, and its adjacent street, Dogtooth Alley (because they bit him in the corner of these alleys).

Finally, they arrived to the town’s most famous landmark/alley (neither Applejack nor Rainbow had heard of it before). It was the most popular story and it attracted tourists to visit it every year, mainly in the days prior to the Summer Sun Celebration, being the Summer Sun Celebration Eve when there was the most attendance. The alley was the most famous landmark aside from statues and spots on the beach, as it had the particular feature to be separated by just 1.5m.

‘How funny Rainbow and I arrived just in time’ —thought AJ.

“This is the Kiss Alley. It is named like such because of the story of two love struck ponies. Legend has it Silver Star and Gypsy Rose had fallen in love. Gypsy Rose was the daughter of a very violent stallion, who, upon hearing of the relationship, threatened his daughter to send her to a far away land to work there and get married to a rich, old colt so the family’s socioeconomic status could rise. Gypsy Rose cried and cried and asked her father for understanding, but it was all in vain. Meanwhile, Silver Star found out about the situation and resolved to undo it by buying the house in front of Gypsy Rose’s with a fortune. Such was the surprise of Gypsy Rose to find her beloved Silver Star on such a short distance from her house. She could even touch the opposite wall with her hoof. Silver Star explained that they could talk things out in the balconies and find a solution to her father’s stubbornness. However, the moment seemed to hang on eternity, for neither pony realized that on the back of Gypsy Rose’s window which led to her bedroom, strong words were being yelled. Her father had seen her talking with Silver Star, so he had hurried quickly to his daughter’s bedroom. Neither pony had time to react, for Gypsy Rose’s father had stuck a kitchen knife through his daughter’s heart through her back. Silver Star was rendered speechless as the poor mare died. The pony was still holding her hoof, growing colder every second that passed, and so in a final act of love, Silver Star placed a kiss on it as Gypsy Rose died. Drops of her blood fell to the street below, so it is tradition for ponies, mainly lovers, to kiss on the third step of the stairwell, where the blood dropped, to any pony they love as an act of either true love or friendship.”

—“Aww, such a tragic tale” —whispered Applejack.

—“Yeah” —answered Rainbow Dash seemingly un-amused.

—“So…” —interjected a colt. —“How about we both take a stroll through this alley, babe?”

—“How about you buck yer own flank, ya feather-brain?” —answered Applejack as she snapped out of her slight daydream.

The colt seemed to be taken aback by the mare’s energetic response, probably he was used to snobby girls like Rarity to reject him, and so he just walked away.

—“Come on, AJ. We need to go” —said Rainbow Dash.

Both of them had spent a good portion of the afternoon touring the town, so they figured to walk back to the hotel to get ready for the party that was yet to happen.

They arrived to the hotel for a rest. Rainbow left her saddlebags in the corner right beside AJ’s. As she looked upon them, she turned her head to the wall and then something caught her eye. She turned her head again to see AJ’s saddlebags.

As she inspected them she found them still full and heavy. Apples, some drinks, a couple of saddles, and most importantly —and what surprised her the most—, a medical kit. Bandages, some water, a thermometer, pills (mainly painkillers and aspirins), some surgical masks, cotton balls, a knife and some de-infecting liquids were neatly packed inside the saddlebags.

“Wow, AJ. Why do you need so much stuff in there? I mean, I get that you may get hungry, but this” —she said as she held out the bandages— “this is excessive.”

—“One can never be too sure, sugarcube” —said AJ as she stepped towards the balcony.

She stood over the railing and looked at the view before her. The beach stood on for a decent distance before disappearing behind some cliffs. Cape Howl’s moon-like appearance engulfed the bay. One side —the one AJ was looking at— was flanked by tall cliffs. The other had the smooth sand on it and a couple of rocks where a lighthouse stood. She looked at the left and admired the hills. The river that parted the town in two had a couple of boats on it, there were couples in the bridge and gliders were flying in the heights. The houses on the hills, where they had toured half an hour ago, looked like dollhouses from where she was standing. And finally, at the highest —and lowest— and farthest part stood the Everfree Forest. The soft, warm breeze blew on the earth pony’s face and she could smell the seawater’s salt and a hint of sand on it. The sun bathed her face as it made her golden mane shine. She could have put a hoof on her face to cover herself from the sun, but her Stetson had already handled that. She saw surfers swim on the waves and foals play in the sand. Her train of thought was broken just as smoke began to pop up here and there on the sky. Ponies were firing fireworks in plain daylight. AJ couldn’t wait until night to see them in all their glory.

—“So…” —began Rainbow as she stood beside her friend. “How did you find town?”

—“Really charmin’ ah might say.”

—“Yeah?”

—“Yeah. ‘cept fer those darned beach colts.”

—“Oh, right. That’s a whole problem with them. I’ve dealt with them once or twice—”

—“Ya’ve dealt with them? Ya mean ya’ve been here before?”

—“No, but jerks are borderless. They’re everywhere.”

—“Oh.”

—“Yeah. So, like I was sayin’, I’ve made a couple of travels from time to time, so I’ve encountered similar ponies. They all stare at you and try to make you like them. Then they make you stay with them like if you were their pet just to show off and eventually forget about you and dump you elsewhere.”

—“Hmph. Boys.”

—“Yeah, I’ve never had a coltfriend. Maybe because I was afraid this might happen to me? I dunno.”

—“Me neither. But quite frankly ah hadn’t had the time ta think ‘bout it. Ah’ve always been busy with the farm to even think ‘bout dating somepony, let alone have a coltfriend. Ah mean, most of the colts in Ponyville are featherbrains. Like Caramel. So ah don’t waste mah time with them an’ just mind mah own business.”

—“Yeah, I guess that’s my case too.”

—“Knew it.”

—“Knew what?”

—“Rarity caught me spyin’ on mah brother an—”

—“Whoah, whoah, whoah. AJ, what do you mean by ‘spying’?”

—“He was on tha market!” —yelled Applejack as she smacked Rainbow in the forehead.

—“Ow! OK, OK! Carry on” —said the cyan mare as she rubbed the spot where her friend had hit her.

—“He was attendin’ Fluttershy on the stand and Rarity discovered me. She said that Fluttershy was in love with somepony. She also said that she looked cute with mah brother. So when ah told her ah didn’t need her help, ah mentioned that neither you nor ah had ever had a coltfriend.”

—“Well, you got that right. So what happened afterwards?”

—“Ah felt really uncomfortable.”

—“No! Not you, I’m talking about them. I wanna know what happened next between those two!” —the pegasus demanded.

—“They talked awkwardly and Fluttershy bought some apples, then left.”

—“Oh! So that’s who she’s in love with!”

—“Well, ah don’t know ‘bout mah brother, but ah think we can’t jump ta conclusions with Fluttershy. Fer all we know, she’s just bein’ shy as she usually is.”

—“Point taken.”

The two suddenly realized about the entire ruckus going on. A small parade of dancing mares dressed in folkloric dresses passed down the street below. Guitars filled the air with their song as fireworks roared through the sky.

“So… Wanna go to the beach?” —asked Rainbow.

—“What for? We already went there.”

—“Yeah, but there’s nothing else to do before the Summer Sun Celebration Eve starts, so we might as well just waste some time.”

—“Alright then, let’s go ta the beach.”

As they walked along the cobbled street, Applejack could see a few improvised shops already open. She was sure these would grow in number through the day and be a tour spot for the night. Obviously it would be way worse the following morning, so she walked up to one and began to watch curious the stock.

“Like anything ya see?” —asked the grown shopkeeper.

—“Well, what’s this?” —asked Applejack as she raised a star-shaped small stone tied to a string.

—“That’s a Star Necklace. It represents Alioth, the brightest star in the Ursa Major constellation. It guides those who are lost back home. Look at the sky and take a good look. The star seems to point to three stars: one above it and two to its bottom right. The star above it makes sort of a line. That’s where the north is. The bottom right stars helped our sailors get back home.”

‘Huh, that’s clever. Well, the beach does actually face the sea westward, so they had to travel east’ —thought Applejack. “Well, that’s mighty beautiful. Ah wish ah could buy this. Ah don’t think ah have enough bits.”

—“Well then, good luck next time.”

Applejack walked away from the stand and returned to Rainbow’s side, who apparently had been waiting for her impatiently.

—“Are you finished?” —asked the multicolored pony.

—“Yeah.”

—“Well, let’s get going.”

They continued their path and arrived to the same beach they had left some hours ago.

“So what should we do now?” —asked Applejack.

—“Well, let’s get the fun started!”

—“Huh? What do ya mean by that?”

With that, Rainbow flapped her wings and shot to the sky —all while making all looks turn on her—. She soared through clouds and back flipped a couple of times, she made a barrel roll and three loops before shooting off towards the water and leaving a white streak on the blue surface. She landed right beside her friend and was splashed with the water that had followed her as it made a rainbow above her. Many ponies began cheering and stomped hooves for her before returning to their normal activities.

“Did you like it?”

—“Yer a very cocky pony, RD” retorted Applejack with indignation.

—“Jealous?” —asked Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.

—“Ah’m not jealous! It’s just that yer always showing off!”

—“Well, how can I make ponies see my awesomeness if I don’t do it myself?”

Applejack just rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

“Besides, if I didn’t do things by myself, I couldn’t be able to make others follow me…” —she said as she came closer and closer to Applejack. “Or even better, do this.”

—“Wha—?” —asked Applejack. Rainbow’s hoof was touching her side.

They stayed silent for a couple of seconds as Rainbow grinned. Then she finally said “Tag!” and ran away.

Applejack stood there letting the events process through her mind as she finally ran in pursuit of her friend.

They laughed as they ran together along the beach. They galloped through the waves and back to the sand as they made their way to the south. Neither of them was aware of where they were going, they simply wanted to have fun. They passed surfers and volleyball players and sunbathing mares, Rainbow sometimes blending herself with the sky and Applejack’s tied golden mane and tail going back and forth as they ran. Finally they made their way to the cliffs that flanked the southern end of the beach, leaving everypony else behind, with only the two of them on that side of the Howl. Applejack finally caught up to Rainbow and pinned her down.

“Got ya!” —yelled the orange earth pony.

—“Really?” —asked the cyan pegasus.

Rainbow shifted under Applejack and pinned her down. —“Looks like I got you!”

Applejack grunted and moved under the rainbow-maned pony’s weight, but try as she might, she couldn’t move.

“Heh heh. Looks like I win this round. Now… How am I going to show you who’s boss here?” —asked Rainbow.

Lots of algae, shells and seawater later, Applejack was covered in green, watery plants. Rainbow was giggling all the time she put the algae in her and burst out laughing when she finished.

“What’d ya do ta me?” —asked Applejack angrily.

Rainbow then led Applejack to a small puddle in the sand, where she could see her reflection.

“An elephant?!”

—“It was the silliest thing I could think of” —said Rainbow, still holding back what laughter still remained.

—“But why did ya cover me with seaweed? Of all the things lying around you grabbed this!? Why did ya have to get me wet?! Now ah’m as dirty as a pig! Why do ya always take yer time to boast yerself, Rainbow?! And most import’ntly… Why—? Why are ya lookin’ at me like that?”

Rainbow didn’t answer. Her eyes had contracted to small dots and her vision seemed to be staring at Applejack, yet when she moved closer, her eyes remained still. Whatever Rainbow was doing, it was not funny.

“Y’all feelin’ good, sugarcube?”

—“Do you hear that?” —whispered Rainbow, face and body barely moving.

—“Uh… Hear what?”

Applejack did not understand, but Rainbow knew. The wind had suddenly changed direction, which normally would be something the pegasus would hardly notice if she wasn’t on weather patrol duty or making flying tricks, but it was something of awareness when it changed directions three times in a matter of seconds. She could hear a high-pitched screech, and then a soft humming. She could not understand how AJ could stand there. Rainbow had the impression something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Finally, it happened. An organ-like sound rumbled through the air as both mares turned to the sky. There, approaching them really fast was a bird of gigantic proportions.

Neither had time to react before it took out its claws and glided towards them to grab its prey. Rainbow seemed to snap out of her trance and tackled Applejack as she yelled “Watch out!” The bird’s claws dug at the sand as it flew in a U-turn to try and snatch its prey. As it glided to the sea for boost, both mares noticed an opening and ran for cover back to town.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The sun was starting to set on the horizon as the Summer Sun Celebration Eve was starting to take place. Hundreds of balloons and confetti filled the air as fireworks spread their glow above. Foals took their mothers to buy them the toys being displayed on stands and couples walked through the bridges that allowed the two parts of Cape Howl to be connected. Everything was up and ready for the big celebration taking place the next day.

“Watch out!”

—“Take cover!”

Everything was suddenly interrupted as ponies everywhere began to run for their lives as panic quickly spread. The local authorities tried to calm down the crowd in vain. Between the ponies in the crowd were a rainbow-maned cyan pegasus and an orange earth pony with a cowboy hat and her hair tied at the back.

“So how did ya know what this thing was?!” —yelled Applejack.

—“Twilight! I asked for her to look up this because I had a nightmare once! I wondered if they existed and she could only tell me little information!”

—“Like what?!”

—“Like they only eat elephants and have a weird sound!”

Suddenly the air began to feel hot and everypony cleared the way as a huge fireball soared through the sky and landed on a stand.

—“Well, now ya can add fireballs ta that.”

—“KATYUSHA! KATYUSHA!” —yelled somepony.

The tourists standing nearby heard the foreign pony and ran in all directions.

—“So, how do ya call this thing?!”

—“That’s a Garkarog! I only thought they existed in fairy tales made to scare little foals! My mom always told me to watch out for them when I was still living in Cloudsdale!”

—“YOU! YOU CAUSED THIS!” —yelled a voice.

—“Wha—?” —exclaimed the two mares at once.

There, in the middle of the running crowd, was the lifeguard they had encountered earlier that day.

—“That’s right! Somehow you two had something to do with this!”

—“Well, tough luck, pal. You have no evidence.”

Both mares kept running for their lives as they made their way through alleys, streets and stores. Trying to talk was hard with panic attacks shaking the whole town. Suddenly, the air began to feel hot again as both mares knew what was coming.

*BOOM!*

The explosion went off a couple of feet from Applejack, the shockwave causing her to collapse. Rocks fell on every side of the streets and glasses from every building shattered. She tried to stand and fell back on her stomach; her back left leg sent her a shot of pain. She turned to look at it and was surprised to see it all covered in blood and glistening. Pieces of glass had encrusted themselves on her coat. Just as she began to wonder what had happened, she realized that she was half deaf. Her ears rang as she took a good look at where she was lying. The fireball had exploded just a few feet away from her into the intersection of two streets, hitting a building’s business on the lower lever and setting the corner ablaze. She then realized just how close she had been to death and stared at the damage in front of her.

“Come on!” —Yelled Rainbow as she nudged AJ to stand up.

AJ was not moving, her eyes still fixed on the fire.

“AJ! LET’S GO!”

Applejack snapped out of her trance and stood up before yelling in pain. Rainbow turned and helped Applejack get on her hooves and walk. Neither of them knew where to run. They were on the flat part of town, so they needed to get to a safer place.

They kept galloping on towards the main bridge that connected the two sides of Cape Howl. As they made their way through the bridge, several ponies were blocking it, panic causing the bridge to be full of ponies wanting to travel from the high part to the low part and vice versa. Breathing was hard among the cramped earth ponies and unicorns and the air was filled with pegasus, fireballs and debris. Ponies dropped their stuff here and there and some tripped and fell because of dropped stuff or injured ponies in the streets. Applejack was trotting as fast as she could, but her leg was a major setback. They pushed their way into the crowd and managed to make it to the alleys they had toured earlier. The Garkarog was now flying high up in the air looking for its prey.

“AJ! We’d better get to the outskirts of town! It’s too dangerous to be here!” —the cyan mare yelled to the cowpony

—“Got ya sugarcube!”

They went to the outskirts of town, watching the whole bay ablaze and columns of smoke blocking the little sunlight that was left as they made it to the gliders spot. Not even the instructors had stayed; probably all went in search of their loved ones.

—“HEY! YOU! COME BACK HERE!” —yelled a much too familiar voice.

—“You again? Don’t you ever give up?!” —asked Rainbow Dash.

The lifeguard was still chasing them down, but he was still too far to worry about him.

“Come on, AJ. Quickly, into the forest.”

—“Tha forest?! Rainbow, have ya lost yer mind?”

—“Would you rather have him get us and nag at us?”

They stood there wondering what to do when an organ-like sound pierced the air. With that as a reminder of the danger they were still in they kept running.

“COME BACK HERE! I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!”

—“Hey, what’s going on in here?”

The lifeguard then turned and saw who was speaking.

—“Oh, hello officers. I was just chasing some mares who were the cause of this ruckus” —he said pointing an accusing hoof at the Everfree Forest.

—“I don’t see any mares” —said the police pony.

—“What?! What do you—?” —he said as he turned to see nothing.

—“You’re coming with us, young one” —said the other police pony.

—“But— But I swear! Two mares caused this, one with a Rainbow mane and another one with a Stetson.”

But it was already too late. The two mares had disappeared into the dark of the Everfree Forest.

Chapter 15: Where the Sunlight Doesn't Reach

Rainbow and Applejack had been running for some time now. It was very dark and cold. They could feel the dampness in the air go inside their noses and spread across their body. The air was very stiff and they couldn't run very well because of the terrain. They tripped and fell here and there with holes, roots and rocks. Applejack had her mane loose for a long time now, both hair bands gone a long time ago in a tree's branches.

Streaks of light poured here and there from small gaps so it wasn't that hard to see. Rainbow's mane got stuck once or twice and her hooves started to ache. They needed to outrun it and escape to the farthest place they could go as long as it didn't catch them. If they could only lose it they'd at least slow down. That didn't seem to be the case. The screeching got louder as it came nearer and nearer. They found a small ditch and cowered in there. Rainbow realized Applejack was chewing on her hair as it waited for the enormous bird to get away. Time seemed to pass eternally. It may as well had been two seconds or a thousand years. How much time passed by, no one knew, but it seemed like it was now gone, at least, for now. They got up and ran towards wherever their hooves took them as they spotted some light pouring between an opening. They got closer and closer as they exited the darkness.

As they stepped out into a clearing, their gaze went upwards. It seemed like the Garkarog had given up and flown away. Applejack cleaned the sweat in her forehead with her hoof. As she did it, she realized her Stetson was gone. She turned everywhere in search for it, but it was useless. Her hat was nowhere to be seen. She sighed and then gasped as she took a look at the landscape before her.

It was beautiful. A vast clearing three times the size of a rodeo, everything covered with grass and flowers growing everywhere. The clearing was divided in two sections. One had a grassy field (AJ couldn't wait to run through it), the other had a lake. The lake was flanked by dirt on the farthest end from where the mares stood, and the other had a steep rock that could easily serve as a diving point. Who knew something so beautiful was hiding deep inside the Everfree Forest?

"Wow!" —exclaimed Rainbow.

—"Yeah"

—"Well, let's get a rest, shall we?" —proposed Rainbow.

—"Rest? How do ya know that Gark-rug won't come back?"

—"I don't."

—"Then why aren't we takin' the precautions?"

—"AJ, just shut up."

The orange earth pony was taken aback by the sudden rudeness in Rainbow's statement.

—"Say what now?" —Applejack angrily asked

—"I can't think while you keep talking" —she answered.

—"Well, that's not how ya ask fer someone ta keep their mouth shut."

—"Well, maybe if you shut up I could figure something out."

—"Well, ya know what? Maybe if ya weren't such a cocky pony we wouldn't be in this problem at all."

—"What? What are you implying?"

—"Ah'm sayin' that this is all yer fault!"

—"How?"

—"Oh, where do ah begin?" —said Applejack as she took a step closer to Rainbow. The cyan mare, in turn, took a step back for every step her friend took.

"Ya show off an' get all cocky, ya tease me an' took me ta the most dangerous place in all of Equestria! Tell me, was it yer idea ta get me ta the farthest and most deserted place in that beach?"

—"W-well, yeah. But—"

—"See? Ah was right! 't was you all along! Ya got a giant bird followin' our tails, almost got ourselves suffocated while we avoided the crowds in the alleys and almost got mahself killed!"

—"Hey! Don't take the place of the innocent mare! You were the one who was OK to hide in here. Also, you didn't complain when we passed through the crowds."

—"Maybe, but if ya would have taken a second ta look instead of just thinkin' with yer wings, we might have been safer in town rather than be here! Who knows how deep in the forest we are, an' there's nothin' ta indicate where the nearest exit is!" —Applejack said. Tears began to fill her eyes from the huge amount of anger she was feeling. Then she said something she would regret. "Yer the worst friend ah could ever ask for."

Rainbow had said nothing during all the time her friend had been yelling at her. This was not the best weekend of her life. First Pinkie, then Rarity and now Applejack: all of them yelling at her for things that weren't really her fault. Rainbow could've just stayed there motionless at the mention of those heart breaking words. However, as she took yet another step back, she lost her balance and fell. In the middle of their argument, neither of them had realized that they had climbed the rock facing the lake, and Rainbow had just fallen over the edge. Applejack's anger had not subsided one bit, not even after she saw her friend fall. She looked over the edge and waited. She expected her friend to just surface back, definitely not laughing, but at least with a sad face on her. However, Dash had taken too long to swim back to the surface and Applejack was beginning to worry.

"Dash?" —she asked. No answer. The water was now back to its flat mirror image. "Dash?! DASH!" She could not hold it anymore and threw herself into the water.

___

She fell from a high distance, but couldn't feel the splash. The fall was so high it had practically knocked her unconscious, she could barely see anything and what small things were visible had turned into a blurry mess. Her friends didn't like her and her best friend had rejected her. Maybe this was the best, to not go back and stay here forever. The tears she had welled up inside her were now flowing freely from her face. Good. They could blend themselves with the water around her.

'Goodbye, everypony' —she thought.

___

Applejack splashed through the water as she dived in to bring Rainbow back. She squinted as she tried to make a picture out of the huge blur in front of her. The lake was surprisingly dark.

'I need to find Rainbow!' —she thought.

The darkness was like a huge black blob ready to consume every living thing it could find, the cold draped itself on her body and threatened to enter through her own skin and turn her white bones into ice. She could feel the pressure start to suffocate her, but she needed to be strong. She needed to go faster. She could barely see Rainbow a few feet below her as the seaweed surrounded her body and tied her up. Tie her up?

'Those aren't seaweeds.'

She dove madly to try and rescue her friend just as the bottom of the lake opened itself up and sucked in a small amount of water. A huge clam lay on the bottom of the lake, and its octopus-like tentacles were now grabbing Dash by her limbs as the pegasus tried to fight back. She tried to free herself from the tentacle grabbing her neck, but she found it useless as she was now suffocating herself with her own hooves.

'No!' —thought Applejack. 'I need to get her!'

Just as she dove deeper into the water, small snakes appeared from holes in the clamp's upper half. Eels. Electric eels were now trying to reach Dash to numb her. Applejack dove just in time to punch a few of them away from her friend. As she fought the eels away, Dash —who was now definitely unconscious— was now deeper into the water and almost at the grasp of the clam.

'I need to go deeper' ―she thought. She kept diving and reached out her hoof for Rainbow to hold.

'Almost there. Al ... most ... there' —she was reaching it. 'Just a few feet more. C'mon... C'mon!'

She groaned, and felt herself pulled backwards.

'No! I will not permit this! I need to make this! I won't. I won't!' —She flapped her forehooves and dove more desperately. She tried to scream, but her jaw was clutched tight from both the effort and the cold. Even still she (hardly) managed to open it and let out a single word.

"RAINBOW!!" —she screamed as the water made it sound muffled.

'Stupid stupid pony' —she nagged at herself. She had wasted precious air with her stupid scream. Still, nothing could hold her back. With all the time spent with Rainbow, she felt that her friends had all been there for her when she needed it. Now she needed to pay back the favor for Rainbow. Her experience had taught her that sometimes the Elements of Harmony were switching themselves with the others, acting like one and all: sometimes Rarity was generous, but sometimes she held proudly Rainbow's loyalty, or Applejack's honesty, or Fluttershy's kindness. Now Applejack needed to be loyal to Rainbow. She dove deeper and reacted in time as an eel prepared itself to shock her. Instead, she punched it back into the clam's insides as it shocked it instead. The clam winced in pain and retracted its tentacles freeing Rainbow. Applejack wasted no opportunity and grabbed her as she dove to the surface.

She broke through the water and gasped for air. Applejack began to cough while she tried to pull Rainbow back into the opposite shore. She dragged the pegasus with her body and placed her on the grass.

"Ah'm sorry, Dash. Ah'm so sorry!" —she said.

No response.

"No. No. No, Dash! No! NO!"

Applejack was growing desperate. Tears trickled down her face as she nudged the limp pegasus.

"C'mon, sugarcube! Wake up! Wake up! Up and at 'em!"

Rainbow was still not moving. Then something lit in the back of AJ's mind as she placed her forehooves on the multicolored pony's chest.

"C'mon, Rainbow... C'mon... You can do this... You can do this... Come on! Yer the Iron Pony, you can certainly do this!"

She pumped with the rhythm she had been taught as a filly years ago as she put her medical experience to practice for the first time. Finally, her hooves pumped hard enough to make Rainbow cough out the water she had held in her lungs.

—"Cough cough cough!"

—"Atta girl" —Applejack said in a kind tone. She then relaxed her muscles and calmed down. As the adrenaline began to dim away from her body, Applejack began to feel cold. She stood up and turned around, then winced in pain as she remembered her injuries on her leg.

'To the hay with that! Rainbow's the top priority.'

She galloped back to the part from whence she came and grabbed her saddlebags. She inspected Rainbow's contents and could not find a single useful thing aside from the blanket inside. The rest (Wonderbolts figurines, money and some saddles and a scarf) were useless junk that the farm mare left behind, including the saddlebag itself.

The orange earth pony returned to the injured pegasus's side and began to attend her. Applejack then noticed the several burns on Rainbow's coat, probably a side-effect from the clam's tentacles. The cold air draped her coat and Applejack realized that it was now night and the moon illuminated everything with its glow.

"Oh, sweet Celestia. Where should we go now?" —asked Applejack to nobody.

'Look at the sky and take a good look. The star seems to point to three stars: one above it and two to its bottom right. The star above it makes sort of a line. That's where the north is. The bottom right stars helped our sailors get back home.'

"Of course!" —AJ remembered. She turned her gaze upwards and searched. Sure as sugar, there it was: Alioth and its three nearby stars. "But ..." What was the better option? They could either both go back to Cape Howl and risk getting caught by the Garkarog, or they could take the long way out and head to Ponyville. Well, AJ certainly didn't want to become bird food, so she grabbed her saddlebags and put them in her back, then reached down and carried the cyan pegasus with her shoulders.

"C'mon, RD. Let's get going" —said Applejack as she slowly made her way east back to Ponyville and into the sharp underbrush of the Everfree Forest.

Chapter 16: Desperate Crisis

This was a complete disaster. Who would've thought something like this could happen? And of all days, it had to be today!

"Princess!" —said somepony.

—"Yes?"

—"We've reached a total count."

—"How much?"

—"29."

—"29? Well, I'm relieved."

—"I'm sorry?"

—"I mean, I'm glad the number is low. It could've been worse."

—"Yes, indeed, your highness. Although I must say, I never thought I'd never see the day when a foaltale like this could turn out to be real. First Nightmare Moon, and now this."

—"I concur, private. Dismissed."

—"Aye!" —saluted the guard as he walked away to carry on with his duties.

—"Princess!" —another guard called. "We found something we think you'd like to see!"

With that cue, Princess Celestia turned and walked towards the guards who were just a few feet away from a corner. The building had sustained a lot of damage and the store on the bottom floor facing the opposite corner was left completely burned, its contents turned to ashes and black smoke still spewing out of it. With that kind of picture on the newspaper the next day, it was surprising that there were only 29 ponies injured.

—"What is it, sergeant?"

—"We found this lying on the floor."

The guard then handed her a brown Stetson, identical to the one a certain earth pony she knew always wore. She inspected it carefully, lifting it with her magic, and smelled it. Apples. It was definitely Applejack's hat. But what was she doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be back in Ponyville?

—"Any indication as to where its owner is?"

—"I'm afraid I don't know, your majesty."

—"Well, carry on then."

—"Princess!"

This was getting tiring and repetitive.

—"What is it now?"

—"The local authorities have captured a stallion. A local lifeguard. He says he knows who the one responsible for this was."

—"Where is he?"

—"He is being held in the local police headquarters."

—"Well, let's go then."

___

He waited for a very long time and was starting to get bored. Why had they caught him? His train of thought was suddenly interrupted.

"Here he is" —said a pony as he lifted his hoof as to signal the way for someone to enter.

At that moment arrived Princess Celestia herself, followed closely by her personal guards.

"Princess Celestia!" —he said as he bowed.

—"At ease, young colt."

He rose back to his hooves and looked at the royal alicorn before him.

"You say you know who caused this… Am I correct?"

—"Well, yes."

—"Can you tell me who it was?"

He thought for a moment before speaking.

—"Yes. It was a couple of… Mares."

—"A couple of mares?"

—"Yes. I just know it was them."

—"On what basis?"

—"Well… Um… Well, I don't know."

—"Then why are you making such an accusation?"

—"Because the moment I saw them I knew they were… Different."

—"How?"

He stayed silent for a moment. Should he say it? Would the princess understand? She should, seeing as how that other spoke the other day.

"Like they were not from here? Is that what you mean?"

Yes. That was a very good excuse.

—"Yes, your majesty."

—"Very well then. Can you describe them?"

—"Well, one was orange and wore a Stetson. The other one had a rainbow mane."

So her suspicions were correct.

—"Do you know where they might be?"

—"I'm sorry Princess. But I'm afraid I don't. Last time I saw them, they were on the edge of the Everfree Forest."

Then she connected the dots. A couple of reports also spoke of ponies going into the forest to hide. Could it be that they fled to the Everfree to shelter themselves? Great. Just great. Now the total toll was 29 injured and two disappeared.

—"Very well then. I am finished here."

Celestia ordered the young lifeguard to be released. She then approached one of her guards.

"Have all other police ponies and guards look for two mares on the Everfree Forest. Don't announce this to anypony. If you find them, then you can speak of it, but for now, let's just stay silent. We don't want to cause more panic than what we already have."

—"Understood."

—"Oh, and, captain?"

—"Yes, your majesty?"

—"Have this Stetson be delivered to the Apple Family on Ponyville as soon as possible."

Tomorrow was going to be a very hard day.

============================================================================

She could hear her heart beating slowly. She was panting heavily and the whole world was a huge blur. Her head was a mess and she could barely make her brain work.

"Oops" —said a voice.

She then felt herself be launched upwards and fall on something.

"Ah'm sorry, Rainbow. It's just that it's mighty hard carrying ya while carrying mah saddlebags."

With that, Applejack adjusted Rainbow's weigh once more as she continued to walk through the Everfree. Her incredible sense of orientation guided her as she could picture a mental map of where she was going. She could not tell from one part of the Everfree from another, but she knew when she had turned wrong. She walked very slowly, careful not to step or trip on something, for if she was to do so, not only her leg would pay her back as she limped, but the limp pegasus on her back would fall, and she was in a delicate state, so sudden movements were out of the question for both. She continued her way carrying her friend in the back while sucking up the pain in her leg. Unsure of how long they had traveled, Applejack lowered Rainbow to the ground and tucked her inside a tree's roots big enough to hold them both and AJ's saddlebags.

"Come on, RD. Let's rest."

Applejack took out Rainbow's green blanket and draped it over them as sleep took her into a long slumber. One she hadn't experienced in quite some time.

=============================================================================

The Ponyville Express had its issue printed the next day, and news started circling all over the land about the Garkarog attack on Cape Howl. The final number was 29 injured ponies that were being attended in the local hospital. The Summer Sun Celebration had been canceled there, with the usual ceremonies taking place on the other cities of Equestria. Two days after that, the attack was all ponies could talk about, many not believing that these legendary birds would exist. A few other ponies were all over the newspapers being all presumptuous in their "See? I told you!" attitude. However, a few of the ponies that had returned from the Howl told about rumors of ponies that had disappeared into the Everfree Forest. This gossip spread like wildfire and soon found itself in Ponyville.

"Good morning Lilly!" —said Mrs. Cake.

—"Good morning Mrs. Cake! How is everypony?"

—"Oh, just the usual. Mr. Cake is putting the foals to sleep."

—"Good. How is Pinkie?"

—"Well, she's still depressed."

—"About what?"

—"Luna knows. She just started crying three days ago before the Summer Sun Celebration Eve."

—"Well, has she heard about the news?"

—"Not yet. She has hardly left her room ever since."

—"Well, I would count myself lucky. We've got a problem. Some of her friends were on Cape Howl at the time of the attack."

—"Really?"

—"Yes. Rainbow Dash left Ponyville because she caused the storm that made our Summer Sun Celebration all muddy. I figure she headed there."

—"Oh dear."

—"Yeah, and not only that. You know McIntosh's sister who also left Ponyville about four days ago?"

—"Applejack?"

Lilly then tossed Mrs. Cake the day's edition of the Ponyville Express with an article circled in red.

—"Killed in Cape Howl."

Mrs. Cake then looked like she could just collapse at any second.

—"How… How do you…?"

—"Some colt came by to ask for flowers the other day. Had a little chit chat with him, one thing led to another, and we soon found ourselves talking about the attack. He said he was on the crowd when the bird started throwing fireballs and saw a blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane and an orange earth pony with a brown Stetson."

—"Well, that sure sounds like Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Do you think the Apples know?"

—"No, I don't think so… They'll know, alright. But at least not yet. If I were you I'd better not tell them."

—"Shouldn't we do it? As their friends?"

—"And how do you think they would react?"

Mrs. Cake stood behind the counter expressionless. She was obviously thinking if telling Granny Smith or McIntosh was a good idea at all. Lilly was right, they had no idea how they would react, especially if Mrs. Cake told them rather than, say, the mayor or Princess Celestia herself.

—"So what should we do?"

—"At least stay silent until the news is confirmed. We don't want the Apples to freak out, or even worse, Pinkie Pie and her friends."

—"Well, that is true."

Lilly then got down to business and bought two cakes and a box of doughnuts. Mrs. Cake was still shocked by the news Lilly had given her, and she still thought about the pink party pony that had locked herself upstairs. She returned to work with a sigh and refilled the counter with more sweets.

_____________________________________________________________________________

It was already dark and she was hungry. Her sniffles would still sound every once in a while as she tried to get over the events that had haunted her in that fateful day. She didn't know how much time had passed She stood up and looked around. Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Still, she had found a way to memorize the path and got around it with ease. She arrived to her destination and held out a hoof. Nothing. Had she ran out? She turned and got down the stairs as she made her way to the kitchen.

Pinkie Pie opened up the fridge and took out a midnight snack. She looked up and down and found a slice of cake that was left from earlier in the day. She placed it in a plate and poured herself a glass of milk. She put her supper on the table and began eating, when all of a sudden she found a bunch of papers she hadn't seen. She got near and could find a big red circle over one article of what she had realized to be not a stack of papers but rather a newspaper.

(Continued from page 2) Reported only 29 injured on yesterday's attack. Although authorities have been silent on the subject, there have been rumors going on about ponies disappearing into the Everfree Forest. How many of them have gone is uncertain. Princess Celestia is still busy from all the trouble caused and has yet to release a statement.

And then she felt it. Twitchy eye. Danger.

==============================================================================

"Pinkie! Come out!" —implored Twilight. Silence.

"Come on! It's the Summer Sun Celebration and only Fluttershy, Rarity and I are available. Come on out!"

—"Pinkie Pie, please, dear. We've been worried about you for quite some time. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are not here, so we are only missing you. We certainly don't want a dull Celebration going on" —said Rarity.

None of those statements could make her come out.

—"Um… Pinkie?" —said a shy voice.

"I know it's hard for you to get out without either Applejack or Rainbow to chat, but you're important to… us. Please, please come out."

Finally they seemed to give up.

—"Come on girls. Let's go. Let's just hope Applejack is having fun with Rainbow Dash in Cape Howl."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in the Howl? Good. They might as well get struck by a tsunami while they're there. Only that can make a small fraction of the sadness she felt.

=============================================================================

Regretting her previous attitude of two days ago, Pinkie felt once again as if her whole world crumbled underneath her as guilt gripped her. With nothing else on her mind, she could just utter a heartbreaking scream that would awaken the Cakes and their foals as they found three crying ponies they desperately tried to console.

Chapter 17: Through the Heart of the Everfree

She awoke with a start. The thickness of the forest made her breathe hardly. She looked around and noticed her friend had also fallen asleep. Applejack took the blanket away from Rainbow and stacked it inside her saddlebags. She put herself underneath Rainbow and carried the pegasus on her back. Pain suddenly shot at her. Her leg was killing her and it needed to be treated.

"I’ll save it for later. My medical supplies need to be enough for Rainbow.”

She grunted and adjusted Rainbow’s weight. Slowly, she began to walk. The darkness was overwhelming. She could barely see the edges of the trees or the bushes. Who knows how deep they were into the forest, or how long was it going to take them before they reached Ponyville. Eventually the air got stiffer and the weather unpredictable. The cold draped itself on Applejack’s coat as she was thankful ponies had fur all over their bodies. The chill made her shiver constantly and forced her to adjust the multi-colored mare’s weight time and time again. At other times, the air became so hot she wished she could shave all of her hair to survive. Her tired body ached and pleaded for her to rest. She finally decided to stop and left her friend on the ground.

“Wait here, Dash.”

After what felt like an eternity, Applejack returned with a bunch of sticks and laid them in front of Rainbow then piled them up to start a fire. She figured the creatures of the Everfree were so used to the darkness around them that the light would scare them away. She took out a couple of matches from her saddlebags and lit the wood ablaze.

She wrapped Rainbow’s blanket over them and began to think as the fire flickered.

'I wonder how everypony in Ponyville is doing… Bet they’re probably worried sick about us.'

She didn’t know how long she looked at the fire until her eyes fixed on a couple of purple irises. Rainbow was awake and looking at her grinning. What was going on in the filly’s mind, who knew. After a very tense silence, Applejack spoke.

“Ah’m sorry Dash… Ah’m sorry for sayin’ y’all were the worst friend ever. Ah… Ah don’t know what came over me. Ah figure ah was angry ‘cause ah lost…” —at this, the farm pony’s voice began to break. “Ah lost mah pappy’s hat.” A few seconds of silence filled again the atmosphere around both ponies.

“Truth is… Ah think ah’ve always been jealous of ya… Yer always there for everypony an’ don’t care if ya get dirty… Ya always boast up fer yer awesomeness and just barely move a hoof. Ya hardly work an’ still make everyone around ya appreciate ya. An’ most importantly… Whenever y’all get somepony mad at ya, ya always forgive… Ah wish… Ah wish ah had that kinda patience you have. Even if yer always impatient yer always patient.”

At the mention of this ironic twist she chuckled lightly. She looked back at her friend only to find that the grin had faded and her face was once again left with no expression.

Her eyes began to close themselves as the day’s events took a toll on her.

And the darkness made it impossible to look around. She finally saw something and went near it. Rainbow was gasping for air as the clam burned its tentacles over her body.

’No! NO! RAINBOW!‘

But it was too late. The clam closed its mouth as Applejack tried to swim near it.

Then the scene changed. Applejack was looking at the grey stone with the rain pouring down onto her.

“Here lies Rainbow Dash, captain of the weather team and the most loyal friend a pony could ask“.

“NO!”

She had awoken once again with a start. Applejack looked around and saw Rainbow sleeping beside her with a terrified look and shifting and moving every now and then. What she was dreaming, she couldn’t tell. The fire had probably run out minutes ago as the ashes spewed smoke to the air.

*sigh* “Come on, Dash. We gotta get movin’.”

With that as her cue, Applejack started again the long walk to Ponyville.

==============================================================================

It was just before dawn when they knocked at the door.

“Now who could this be at this unbuckable hour?” —asked Granny Smith. She had been awakened from her sleep by the pony at the door. Normally, Granny Smith would awake at a much later hour, an advantage of being an old mare that could barely work. Her only chores consisted of some cleaning here and there and buying groceries whenever some food had run out.

“Ah’ll answer it, Granny” —offered Big McIntosh.

The red stallion opened the door only to find himself face to face with a white pegasus with a golden helmet. A royal guard stood before him.

—“Apple Family?”

—“What can ah do fer ya, sir?”

—“I’ve been asked to give you this.”

He then took out a brown and dirty Stetson and gave it to the red pony.

“I’m sorry. Have a nice day.”

The guard left and closed the door. Mac was speechless and could not move.

Chapter 18: Dear Friend

The whole world was still a blur for her. Her heartbeat was still sounding loudly in her ears.

“Don’t Worry Rainbow. Ah’m still here” —she said again.

Rainbow? Who was that? She figured it was her name, since the filly carrying her always called her like that. Every time she spoke, the silence in her mind would shatter. She didn’t know where she was or how she got there, her mind was a mess and trying to remember was a headache for her. She could barely move and her breath was stiff. Then she was laid on the floor as the filly took something out.

“Come on, sugarcube. Let’s eat” —said Applejack.

The cyan mare opened up her mouth slightly and let Applejack feed her the food she had carried for her trip. Neither knew how much time had passed ever since, so Applejack had been forced to divide the food into rations and reserve as much as the medical equipment as possible. However, the pain in her leg returned to haunt her and she realized she couldn’t fight it anymore. At least de-infecting the wounds would help her walk faster. She sprayed disinfectant over her leg as pain shot through her body. She grunted and shut her eyes as tears of pain ran down her face. She then proceeded to put a bandage around it.

Applejack had been really lucky. She hadn’t encountered a single monster in the whole ordeal she had gone through. As soon as she felt better, she lifted Rainbow and continued her journey, keeping her senses high for any predators that might want to eat them.

As if on cue, something rustled a bush near her. She turned around to see if there was something behind her. Nothing.

‘Calm down, AJ. You’re just hearing things’ —she told herself.

Just then, out of the bushes behind her, something growled at her. A big black dog was showing its teeth to her and seemed to crave for a meal of ponies and apples.

Applejack put Rainbow down and tried to divert the dog’s attention to her.

“Hey! HEY! Come here, ya big fat ball!”

The dog seemed to take the bait and pursued the orange pony. Meanwhile, all the downed pegasus could do was just raise a hoof forward. She stood there for an eternity until she heard hoofsteps behind her. Her friend had returned.

“Sorry ta keep ya waitin’ sugarcube.”

With that, Applejack once again put the limp pony on her back. She didn’t know if her friend could register what she said, but trying couldn’t hurt anyone, so she pushed forward.

“Hey, don’t give me that look! There’s no way ah’d leave mah friend behind.”

Silence. Was Rainbow listening to her at all? She then saw a tree’s root like the one they had used before and figured to go inside to take shelter and rest a bit. Applejack laid Rainbow down and both sat on their haunches. Maybe a conversation could get a small response.

“Hey, Rainbow. What’re ya gonna do once we get ta Ponyville? Well, first we need ta recover an’ rest plenty… Ah wonder what business ah’ll be able ta do. Maybe ah need ta try ev’rythin’ while we’re still young. Go through many hardships and find mah path… Right, an’ since ah possess many skills an’ knowledge many ponies don’t have, ah’ll open a business that does ev’rythin’. Troublesome stuff, dangerous stuff. Ah’ll do anythin’ dependin’ on the reward. Ah’ll be rich in no time.”

Now she was starting to sound like a mix between Applebloom and Pinkie Pie.

“So, Rainbow. What’re ya gonna do?”

Silence. Not even a muscle was moving.

“Ah’m jus’ kiddin’ sugarcube. There’s no way ah’d leave ya behind. Also, ah got a farm ta keep, an’ ah already have mah cutie mark. Listen, Rainbow: when we reach Ponyville, ah’ll make lots of challenges so you an’ I can hang out as much as possible this summer.”

Then Applejack looked off into the distance trying to see if the dog had returned. She was shivering and panting and kept her senses high. Then something caught her sight on the corner of her eye. To her left were a couple of purple eyes looking at her with a worried expression and a stupid grin. Applejack just kept looking at Rainbow trying to figure out what she was doing. Then the pegasus held out a hoof and pointed to Applejack. At that she practically understood what she was saying: ‘You’re bleeding’.

“Aw, it’s nuthin’ sugarcube” —said Applejack as she covered the bleeding left side of her neck with her hoof. Probably a horned branch had scratched her while she distracted the dog. However, the blood had dried off and the wound was impossible to decipher.

Both were shivering and were pretty exhausted, so Applejack figured she had to let them both rest. She stretched her back (something she wanted to do after carrying a pegasus for quite some time) and looked around for the blanket.

‘Oh. Right’. She had used the blanket while she was away as a decoy for the dog. With no other way of getting warm, Applejack shifted her tail and made it land on the pegasus’ back, making it act like a sort of blanket. Rainbow then did the same in an act that surprised Applejack not only for being selflessness, but because she could sense what the other filly was trying to do. Both of them quickly fell into a deep slumber.

Just then something sounded outside as it was approaching their hiding spot. The black dog had returned, this time not alone. Two others were accompanying him. Since Applejack had been all over the place nearby, it was difficult for them to pinpoint exactly where they were hiding. They turned around and continued their search for food elsewhere. Applejack was not sure if they had left or not, so she waited a moment before peeking out of the roots. She turned her gaze at her friend who now had a terrified look on her face: ‘Wait! Where are you going?!’.

“Don’t worry, sugarcube. Ah’ll just peek fer a sec.”

Rainbow’s face relaxed as she felt somewhat relieved. The worried expression had returned: ‘Be careful out there, AJ.’

“Ah will, sugarcube.”

Applejack took her head out and looked left and right. No big black bulges were around to be seen, so she assumed the coast was clear and their surrounding was safe.

“Come on, Dash. Let’s move. This is a very vulnerable spot we’re hidin’ in.”

Applejack lifted once again her limp friend for who knows how many times that day and quickly continued her way onwards to Ponyville.

_______

Dash had been on her friend’s back for so long, AJ was sure it had made the mare come into an uncomfortable position. Her breathing had become slower and both needed to sleep. However, three big, black dogs chasing them changed the situation drastically. Applejack adjusted the weight once again.

“Oops. Sorry Dash. Mah bad. Ah wanna let ya rest, but it seems like we don’t have time fer that.”

Just then a familiar growl sounded behind them. The orange pony counted down the time it would take them to get to the right spot. Then, all of a sudden, she turned back, took out her rope and lassoed one of those black dogs with a loud “Yeeehaww!”.

She turned around and saw Rainbow on the ground, probably having fallen down as she turned to tie up the dog.

“Like a small pup can take me on. Right?” —she said as she (again) carried Rainbow.

Suddenly, two more growls, probably farther than the last one, sounded behind them.

“What a bunch of persistent guys! Like they’ll catch me” —complained Applejack. She continued running until pain once again shot through her body. Both legs were aching now and her temperature was rising. She tripped forward and the pain became worse. Rainbow rolled on the ground as inertia made its effect on her body. Now Applejack’s head was about to explode and front hoof was burning. Thorns had encrusted themselves into her leg. With no time to lose, she quickly cast a bandage over it and carried Rainbow on her back. She quickly oversaw a cave and decided to take shelter inside.

================================================================

How much time had passed, she didn’t know. Everything became clearer to her as she opened her teary eyes. She was awakened by noises outside. Growling. She looked around and noticed an orange lump behind her. Looking back and forth between the entrance of the cave and the unconscious pony behind her, she realized the situation was bad.

Did they do this to her? Then they would pay hard.

Rainbow took a stance and waited for the monsters to show their faces. Growls and yells soon filled the air as the pegasus fiercely fought back the intruders. How much time had passed, no one knew, but eventually all three dogs were running back to their lairs as Rainbow stood her ground. She had a lot of scratches, gashes and wounds. Her right wing hung limply at her side as blood dripped out of it. Her mouth was also dripping out blood, probably an inside wound making itself known. Suddenly, a noise behind her made her turn around. Her friend was lying down and looking at her with a half-open eye.

“Rainbow… Dash?” —she said.

Suddenly the pegasus looked down the other mare’s body and saw three red symbols on her flank. Apples. Apples? Applejack! Yeah, that was her name.

—“Applejack” —she whispered.

—“T-thanks, sugarcube… Ya kept yer promise… Ya really are a loyal friend.”

Rainbow just smiled weakly, not really paying much attention to what Applejack was saying. She helped her friend back on her hooves as both winced from the pain. They got out of the cave and continued on their way, not sure if they were on the right track. They really supported each other. Whenever one grew tired, she leaned on the other. Rainbow hung her injured wing on Applejack’s back and Applejack supported herself on Rainbow’s weight to compensate her injured legs. Their breathing grew heavier as both panted and exited the trees as they were greeted by a sunny area. A river flowed freely to the right side as it rounded a cottage.

“We made it Dash. We’re home.”

With those last words, both mares collapsed. They were so dirty that if one would have passed by, they would have been confused with two friends who went out partying and ended up sleeping in the road or two twin sisters taking a nap in each other’s embrace. If one would look really carefully, one would make out their cutie marks and a rainbow-colored mane and tail on one of them. They truly seemed to be sleeping peacefully and probably no one would have bothered them at all. That is, if there wasn’t so much blood dripping from them.

=============================================================================

“Well, thank you very much.”

—"Not a problem” —said the other pony.

—“I just don’t know what to say. Maybe I’m overreacting too much, but it seems something a bit excessive for you to do so over some insolation.”

—“Think nothing of it, Fluttershy. After all, you couldn’t quite move.”

—“And I’m glad you came here, nurse” —said the yellow pegasus. “Allow me to brew you some tea. It’s the least I can do.”

—“Well, alright then” —said Nurse Redheart.

Fluttershy then went down the stairs and into the kitchen. She hadn’t left her house in a day, so she figured some fresh air would do her some well. She stepped out for a moment from her cottage and inhaled deeply. The scent of grass and dew calmed her deeply. Just then, a white fur ball came hopping down towards her and started nibbling her leg.

“What’s the matter, Angel?” —asked Fluttershy.

The white bunny then took her near the Everfree Forest and suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Angel only pointed towards something.

“Angel, what are you trying to te—?”

The yellow pegasus stopped midsentence as she noticed two brown lumps on the ground. She slowly stepped closer until she saw it. Hair reflecting the sunlight, the other with a shadow of what was once a full spectrum. A faint orange tone on one, a faint blue one on the other. Fluttershy was left shocked and speechless. Her legs failed her, her eyes welled up. She was never one known for raising her voice, but desperation can change things easily. With one huge breath, the yellow mare uttered one word to the world.

“Hgh. Gh… N-n… Nuh-nuh-nuh. NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURSE!!!!!!!!”

Chapter 19: Aftermath

Chapter19: Aftermath

The day was sunny and the sun was starting to make its way down before the twilight loomed in. Animals ran here and there and the whole place was as peaceful as could b—

“NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURSE!!!!!!!!” —a loud scream shattered the tranquil ambience as her train of thought was interrupted.

Nurse Redheart galloped her way down the stairs and outside to the edge of the Everfree Forest only to find a sobbing pegasus on the ground with red, puffy eyes and a desperate look on her face.

The white mare did everything she could to inspect the two downed ponies in front of her. She quickly inspected their vital signs and realized they were both still alive, but only just barely. With all her might she turned around to the bawling yellow pony behind her and tried to console her.

“Fluttershy. Fluttershy!” —she yelled as she grabbed the sobbing pegasus by the sides of her head. “Fluttershy, I need you to go to Ponyville Hospital and get me Nurse Tenderheart and all the other urgencies ponies around available. She should be on her shift near the entrance at this time. Tell them something has happened at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Can you do that for me?”

Fluttershy seemed to calm down and nodded with tears still streaming down her face. She quickly turned and galloped towards the Hospital she had once seen her friend being attended. She entered the building and yelled.

“Nurse Tenderheart!”

Everypony around turned to the source of the noise as Fluttershy caught her breath.

—“Fluttershy? What happened, dear?”

—“Something… *huff* *huff* something has happened *huff**huff* *huff* at the *huff* at the edge of the Everfree. *huff* Please *huff**huff* please come. *huff* It’s urgent!”

A team of medical ponies quickly assembled itself as they made their way down to Fluttershy’s cottage. They arrived just in time to find Nurse Redheart giving CPR to one of the ponies and they quickly put them on stretchers and took them back to the hospital as quickly as they could, all while injecting them both with morphine and plasma to keep them alive before they could see what was wrong.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Night had fallen already and hours had passed since she got there. She was pacing around worried about the whole situation. She had gone there as soon as she found out and was now reunited with the rest of her friends. Twilight Sparkle sighed and took out a book as she sat down trying to take her mind off it so time could pass by faster. However, concern has the exact opposite effect on things when you really care for them, so naturally, time was passing slowly for the four friends on the waiting room. Fluttershy still had red eyes ever since she found them near her house, but she had run out of tears for quite some time. Rarity had her mane entangled as she still tried to process the whole situation. As for Pinkie, she still had her hair flat and down and was still depressed. In one small corner was the Apple Family: Big McIntosh, Applebloom and Granny Smith waiting with as much dread as the group of friends about their missing member. Probably it was already midnight or even past it, but the four friends were not leaving until they knew her friends were OK. It had been two days now. Two days of visiting the hospital and they still hadn’t had any news on their friends. They had taken turns for one to watch over the room every hour or so while the other three had their business. However, since only Rarity and Pinkie had jobs that took a lot of effort and time, mostly it had taken Twilight and Fluttershy to look after the white doors of the room. However, they had finished their work early (mostly because they actually had closed rather than finished) so now the four friends looked at the white doors in a trance.

Finally, the doors opened and a doctor came outside, who was quickly surrounded by the four ponies asking desperately about their friends’ wellbeing.

He simply raised a hoof to shut them up and talked with a tired voice.

“We did as best as we could. They’ll be fine, they just need to rest.”

—“What about Rainbow?” —asked Fluttershy. “Will she be able to fly again?”

—“I wouldn’t worry so much about her rather than your other orange friend.”

—“Applejack? What happened to her?” —asked Twilight.

—“She is very delicate. Well… Both of them are, and in an equal state. However, she seems to have taken the worst beating of all.”

—“Why? What’s wrong?”

—“She was poisoned.”

—“Poisoned?!” —asked the four friends in unison.

—“Yes. She seems to have touched a Stinging Shrub. Also, both of them have multiple injuries on their bodies. Your friend had glass incrusted on her left hind leg, had a cut on her front hoof and an injury on the left side of her neck. As for your friend, Miss Dash, she seems to have some sort of burns on her body, front hooves and neck; she also presents multiple scratches and bites and her right wing has a minor gash, so don’t worry, she’ll be able to fly, it’s nothing grave. I’d like to point out however that those burns don’t seem normal. We haven’t had a case like this, so there was little we could do. We took off most of the foreign elements from them. We had to call a doctor from Canterlot to help us, but they are fine now.”

—“Wh-What do you mean by ‘foreign elements’?” —asked Pinkie.

—“Glass, dirt, pieces of branches. Anything that was considered invasive by their bodies. They are sedated right now, so I’d advise you to check them in the morning.”

—“Fine. Thank you doctor” —said Twilight.

Relieved that their friends were alive, the four ponies returned home to rest so they could visit them in the morning.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The world grew dark around her. Memories of her being teased at flight school popped up. Everything came by rushing and going slowly. She felt depressed and wanted to end it all. She saw something move on the corner of her eye between the spinning world around her. She turned and a snake bit her on the neck. She finally managed to awake as doctors stepped inside the room to try and stabilize her again. Light made her shut her eyes once more as she grew accustomed to it.

“Alright, alright! False alarm. She seems to be stable now again” — said one of the doctors.

They put out the light and the room grew dark once more. She turned to her right to look at the window and saw a beautiful moon greeting her. She could barely remember anything that had happened. She saw she was covered in bandages and could move very little. She sighed as she tried to forget her nightmare. Rainbow had had quite a difficult time to sleep. Ever since she awoke a couple of hours ago she had had nightmares invading her mind. She wondered how Applejack could be doing. Probably she was sound asleep and didn’t have to endure her pains. With a small grunt, she turned and tried to get to sleep.

_____________________________________________________________________________

She awoke to a white room with her mind still spinning. A strong bitter smell filled her nostrils and in front of her, three blurs were standing.

“Ah think she’s wakin’ up!”

—“Applejack? Applejack?!” —said a voice.

She finally focused her sight enough to make out the three forms. Granny Smith, Big McIntosh and Applebloom were standing at the foot of her bed with concern written all over their faces.

—“Sweetie, ya sure took quite a beatin’. Good thing the Apple blood inside ya helped ya survive” —said Granny Smith.

She still had some parts of her body that hurt and her hooves were covered in bandages.

—“Sis, are you alright?” —asked Applebloom.

AJ didn’t say anything for a moment. A tense silence loomed in on the room.

—“How long was ah out?” —she finally croaked. Her mouth still dry.

—“Two months” —answered Big McIntosh.

—“Two months?!”

—“Eeyup. Two months since the Summer Sun Celebration.”

That was not the answer she was expecting. She decided to rephrase her question.

—“How long was ah unconscious?”

—“Two days since ya were brought here. We thought you was dead.”

—“D-Dead?”

Big McIntosh then looked to the saddlebag in his side and took out a brown Stetson. It was her own, no mistaking it.

“Papa’s hat! How’d ya find it?”

—“A royal guard came and gave it to us four days after you left. Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”

—“Now, now, McIntosh. Yer sister’s been through a lot, don’t be harsh on her.”

—“Time’s up! The next visitors are coming” —said a doctor from outside.

—“What? So soon?” —asked the small yellow filly.

—“You’ve been here for 15 minutes.”

—“Oh” —replied Applebloom.

The three farm ponies left and Applejack’s three friends entered the room.

—“Hi, AJ. How are you feeling?” —asked Twilight.

—“Ah’m fine, thank ya. Where’s Pinkie?” —she asked, surprised to see that her pink friend was missing.

—“She’s with Rainbow Dash.”

—“Oh.”

—“So what happened?”

Applejack tried to explain as quickly as possible the whole ordeal she experienced. When she finished, her three friends were looking at her with a look of perplexity. None could believe she could survive all those trials and crossed the Everfree Forest.

“So… What do ya think?”

—“Well, I believe you were attacked by a pack of Gytrash.”

—“A what, now?”

—“A Gytrash. It’s a big black dog with incredible force. They seem to hunt at night and from what ponies describe, they come out of shadows; but since this was the Everfree, I doubt they had taken a nap or attacked after the sunlight was out. You know how difficult it is to take time in that forest. They like to hunt in packs and outnumber their victims. Nothing else is known about them.”

—“Oh… So… What about that… Thing?”

After a few seconds of thought, Twilight spoke.

—“I have my suspicions, but I think it’s better that Rainbow be here. It would be better to have you both hear it.”

—“Oh. Well, thanks fer stoppin’ by.”

—“You’re welcome, AJ. That’s what friends are for.”

The other pony on the other room was not as lucky. She had awoken a few minutes before Applejack and found herself face to face with a crying Pinkie.

“I’m sorry. I’m s-so sor-rry” —she said between sobs.

—“No, Pinkie. I’m the one who needs to be sorry” —said Rainbow Dash as she stroked Pinkie’s flat mane.

—“No. I treated you really bad. *hic* I don’t deserve to have you as friends.”

—“Hey, it’s all in the past.”

—“But still, it wasn’t even your fault. *sob* And I overreacted and yelled at you and told you all those horrible things.”

—“But you were angry, and you couldn’t think straight. I understand, Pinks.”

—“Thanks, Dashie. But still, you just can’t forgive me. My conduct was not one that I should be proud of.”

—“No, Pinkie. I neglected you as a friend and didn’t hang out with you. I’m the one who needs to be forgiven. I promise once I’m outta here I will hang out with you and pull as many pranks as I can with you.”

—“So… We’re OK?”

—“Yeah. We’re OK.”

Pinkie then leapt towards Rainbow and hugged her tightly as her pink mane returned to her puffy state.

—“Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou.”

—“Heeey! Look who’s awake!”

—“Twilight!”

—“Hi, Rainbow” —said Twilight Sparkle as the rest of her friends walked inside her room. “How are you feeling?”

—“Well… I guess I feel better.”

—“You… Guess?”

—“Yeah, I can hardly remember anything.”

—“What do you mean?”

—“Well… All I can remember straight is me fighting against those dogs and then stepping out of the Everfree Forest… Other than that, everything’s like a blur to me.”

—“Oh, well…” —said Twilight. Maybe talking about the whole ordeal she had passed through was still not a good idea. She clearly hadn’t recovered yet from the adventure she had had, so Twilight figured that she could wait until both her friends recovered to talk about it.

“Come on girls, the interns say visit time is over.”

With Twilight leading the way, the four ponies walked out of the hospital while both of their friends wondered how the other was doing.

Author's Note

It's finally here! Now let's get that writer's block because I haven't written the next chapter yet. This means that I'm now 1 chapter delayed, but I felt I needed to give this story a little push so as to not make it seem it just died.

Chapter 10: Going Away

“Alright, team. You’ve all done a great job today!” —said Cloudkicker as she addressed the very tired weather team. “Now, before you go, I must inform you that the Boss has ordered any members who keep slacking off be banned from the Celebration if any trouble arises. This will be a very stressful week before the Summer Sun Celebration, so I hope I don’t need to lay off somepony for a day or two. With that said, you may now go.”

Everyone left at once and Rainbow Dash found herself overflying Ponyville for another check up before the rain started. She glided gracefully down and directed her flight for Fluttershy’s cottage. She stepped down and knocked on the door. A very timid “coming!” answered her call.

Fluttershy opened up her door with a surprise look on her eyes.

“R-Rainbow! Gosh, I didn’t expect you until another couple of minutes!”

—“Oh. Well, is it an inappropriate time?”

—“Oh, no! Not at all. Come in.”

Rainbow stepped in like she had used to do in her past visits and looked around.

—“So… Where is he?”

—“Back in the yard. He gets really happy when he visits his old friends. Should I get him?”

—“Yes please. The last two times he looked mad for picking him up late.”

—“Alright, you just wait here.”

Fluttershy walked to the back of her house and into her backyard where most of her animals played around with each other. Rainbow just sat in the living room a little nervous on the inside. In a couple of seconds Fluttershy returned carrying a green shell in her hooves.

“We’re here, Tank. Wake up” —she said with the gentlest motherly voice she could muster. From the insides of the shell a small head peeked out and a huge grin formed on its lips as Tank the tortoise looked at his owner.

—“Hey, little guy” —said Rainbow Dash. Tank was often left with Fluttershy while Rainbow was working with the weather team and it wasn’t uncommon for Rainbow to pick him up late at night after a quick chat with Applejack or hearing a tantrum from Rarity. Tank wobbled his legs as he wanted to be in his owner’s hooves. Rainbow dash tightened the tortoise’s propeller and held the green reptile in her hooves. “Did ya miss me?”

—“Not really. He likes to play around with his propeller all the time. He looks so cute.”

—“Well, thank you so much for taking care of him. It’s really hard to look after him with so much work going on with the Summer Sun Celebration lately. I think I’m so stressed I might go crazy. I’ve been doing so many clumsy things that I think Cloudkicker is going to get an aneurism from me. Anyway, I—” —Rainbow stopped just as she noticed her friend. “Um… Fluttershy?” —she asked trying to get the yellow pegasus to react. “Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy jerked back into reality as she blushed intensely.

—“Wha—? What?” —she stammered.

—“Sheez, Fluttershy. What happened back there? You looked dumbfounded and stared into nothingness.”

—“I- I did?”

—“Yes. If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you’re in love.”

At the mention of the word “love” Rainbow noted her friend cowered behind her mane with the reddest face she had ever seen on her.

“Wow. I was just joking, but it seems I was right.”

Fluttershy just stood there with her feet glued to the floor and her mane still on her face. A whimper was all she could muster.

“So, is it someone I know?”

—“Um…”

—“C’mon! Who’s the lucky colt?”

—“I uh…” —Fluttershy just stood there not knowing what to say. Silence swept through the room for some good two minutes.

—“Hey, it’s okay. If you don’t wanna tell me I’m fine.”

Fluttershy was still quiet as a rock.

“So… Does somepony else know?”

—“Just Rarity” —said finally Fluttershy.

—“Just her?”

—“As far as I know. You know how gossipy she is. She managed to notice me in one of our weekly spa visits.”

—“Yeah, well, your secret’s safe with me. When you finally feel like telling me who it is don’t be afraid.”

—“Thanks Rainbow.”

—“Anyway, how is the search?”

—“Well, ever since you asked me I hadn’t had the time for it, but now we think we’re getting a lead.”

—“Really?”

—“Although the animals and I cannot begin to search properly until we’re certain about our information.”

—“What, did you get it from a colt in a trench coat or some foreigner pony in a cart parking lot?”

—“Oh, no. It’s not like that” —said Fluttershy with a slight chuckle. “I have sent a critter or two to get her tracks, but we have hardly found something. A bird managed to find a piece I believe is from her collar, but I can’t be certain it’s from her. And even if I did, I need more than a piece of leather to find her. That’s why I’m still waiting for something else, so at least I get a picture of where she went.”

—“Alright Fluttershy. I’ll leave you to it. I believe in you.”

—“Thanks Rainbow” —replied the yellow pegasus shyly.

Rainbow Dash said goodbye to her friend and parted towards her house. As she soared the gray sky as the sun began to set, she saw the small shape of Sweet Apple Acres dark against the setting sun’s rays that peeked through the clouds and realized that one window was already lit: a small window on the second floor. Rainbow fluttered in the direction to the farm, but realized Tank was still following her.

“I need to fix a few things with somepony. Are you sure you can do fine without me all by yourself back home?”

Tank nodded in agreement and hovered towards Rainbow’s cloud home. The cyan mare then flew towards her best friend’s house wondering why in Equestria’s name was her window lit, and more importantly, what was she doing in her room when normally she was out in the orchard? This odd behavior really struck Rainbow’s curiosity as she flew gracefully over the clouds.

Rainbow approached Applejack’s room and fluttered to the lit window. She softly tapped her hoof on the glass. This wasn’t the first time she went to Applejack’s bedroom and tapped on her window, but past experiences had taught her that Applejack could get mad at her from loudly banging on the window and almost cracking it.

“What in tarnation?” —asked a familiar voice from behind the curtain.

The window opened and Applejack’s orange face came in contact with a pair of violet eyes.

“Rainbow? What’re ya doin’ here?”

—“Oh. I was just flying back home when I saw your window lit, so I wondered why were you in your room so early instead of working in the farm.”

—“Well, you sure showed up in quite a moment.”

—“Is something wrong?”

—“Not really, but ah got a lot to do.”

—“Can I help?”

—“In what?”

—“Well, um...” —Dash stayed silent.

—“Sugarcube, ah got a lot ta do, so ah don’t think there’ll be time to chat fer a while.”

—“Why? What’s going on?”

—“Ah’m packin’.”

—“Why?”

—“’cause ah’m leavin’.”

—“Where to?”

—“Cape Howl.”

—“For what?”

—“Ah got business ta make!” —yelled AJ.

After a moment of silence, Rainbow replied.

—“Well, how much time are you staying there?”

—“Ah return on Sunday.”

Rainbow just stood on the window thoughtful.

—“Well. Good luck, AJ.”

—“Thank ya, sugarcube.”

With that, Rainbow Dash flew off back to her house as the scheduled drizzle began. She normally stayed with her best friend to chat a little but she could see she was too stressed and angry. While she could understand Applejack’s frustration, she couldn’t help but worry about her. What could have happened for her to be in such a mood? Dash shook her head as she tried to soar in time before the storm worsened and flew off to her house where a green shell awaited anxiously her arrival.

___

*Clump!*

The sound was loud enough to snap her out of her concentration. Curious, she looked to the door in the other side of the hall, which was shut. She walked to it and knocked.

“Applebloom?”

—“Go away!”

—“What’s wrong, sugarcube?” —asked Applejack as she entered the room.

—“Nothin’.” —replied her sister.

—“C’mon, sugarcube. Tell me.”

—“*sigh* Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were makin’ fun of me an’ mah friends again.”

—“Don’t pay them no mind, honey.”

—“They said that we did too many things an’ nothin’ ever came out of ‘em. AJ, what if we stay blank flanks for the rest of our life?”

—“Yer not gonna stay a blank flank, ya jus’ gotta be patient.”

Applejack hugged her sister, staying with her until her anger subsided.