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Spectrum, i, n: Originally meaning image, simulacrum, and even revenant in Old Pegasi, not to mention that it has been used and now is used to classify something in terms of its position on a scale too …

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Applejack woke up with a start, but it looked like her dream wasn’t the reason for that. She never woke up that early with a pleasant dream, indeed the sky brought by Luna was pitch black.
After gaining more consciousness of her cloudy surroundings, she found out that there were sounds coming after a crash, and a muffled voice from upstairs to Applejack’s confusion.

‘Must be Dash’ she thought, but then realized what that may imply.

The tired mare got off the cloudy sofa, fighting against the urge to curl up in the blanket, tried to get closer to those sounds’s origin, still being careful of the unusual…cloudy environment.
As a matter of fact , Applejack quickly realizes the sounds get louder and louder as she gets closer to Rainbow’s bathroom:
From the raspy tones of the voice, it was clearly Dash speaking.
And to be honest, it was pretty loud even if she couldn’t make out the words. She had concluded that Rainbow Dash may have forgotten the fact that a friend was here in this house in the first place.

Images now ran like a bull in a rodeo in Applejack’s mind, to explain whatever is going on in here, may it be really bad or simply embarrassing on Dash’s behalf.

To put an end to the mystery, Applejack knocks on the door…or tries to forgetting for a moment it was made out of clouds.
She resolved on trying to call her friend.
“ Rainbow Dash? “

No answer, or any stop of those noises.

‘She better make that break of mah sleep worth it’
She thought, yet still wanted a positive explanation for the speed demon’s awakening.

And so, she opened the blue door, and switched on the light, not ready for what awaited for her to see. She stops at the sight. She hasn’t thought for one second that may be the explanation for her friend’s loud attitude…

Pretty far away from the thought of Rainbow being careless when tired at very late hours, her best friend stood up not that far away from her, her stature pretty unusual from what she used to see… and love in front of the running sink, on which a pink stain was visible at first, but it was easily detached by the running water.

In fact, pretty far away from her usual confidant smile and pose, she seemed withdrawn on herself, her face expressionless but she stared at her friend…blankly, as if she’s having issues processing what she’s seeing… Maybe because of the new presence of lighting.

As for her eyes, they were a bit redder than usual: she was definitely crying a little before her entrance. But something caught her eyes more: Rainbow Dash’s own were dilated, way more then they should be. Not reacting to the lighting Applejack brought, the darkness overpowering the cerise hue that Cherry Jubillie liked.

Looking down at her friend, something she came to do as time went on (to her own shame) she caught something way worse.
Rainbow Dash’s once cool mirror covered by pictures of her friends, Tank, the wonderbolts and the speed demon herself was split in half, some pictures being thorn apart. As a matter of fact though, she couldn’t see which ones were.

One part of the mirror didn’t make it, some shards landed in the bathroom sink, others were spread around the pegasus.

Moreover, the rest of the bathroom was rather clean, indicating that she wasn’t present for long. As a matter of fact, the toilet seat was shinny white, the shower veil untouched leaving the inside of the glass unknown to Applejack and the chair by the drying rack was still occupied by rainbow colored towels.

But everything else wasn’t that clean.. Such as Dash herself, who was pretty worst than anything she could have thought possible…

Rainbow Dash, wearing her robe barely stood on the floor, her wings almost completely limp, and was protected by her ‘Tank’ slippers. She was also holding her left hoof, which was clearly injured. The tired farmer didn’t have to think twice about why.

Applejack also noticed that the bandage on her head was gone, probably to the garbage can. Nevertheless, her very messy mane somehow managed to keep whatever she tried to hide hidden for any pony to see, even if she could guess a bit of redness.

After swallowing her friend’s condition as hard as she could, she approached her. Even if she had already deducted how unlikely it is for the fast one to act normally today…

“ What the hay is going on in here Rain- “

Her friend proceeded to speak over her, with her face twitching and straightening her position. Applejack tried to remember things her family and experiences thought her about helping friends in heavy need…

Unfortunately she realized there wasn’t anything in her mind right now.

“ I get it now “

Her voice though, sounded rougher…even a bit authoritarian and calm, disturbing Applejack a little because of the context. She now stood on her guard, even if really confused.

“ Uh- “

“ All of that mess- It wasn’t because of how AwEsOmE I was or am, ain’t I right-?! “

What?

“ Rainbow, what are ya rollin’ on ? “ Seriously, what on Granny Smith’s makeshift strawberry (out of everything she could have chosen…) pie is she babbling about- ?

Her friend…grunted and then spoke, louder, but this time there was anger of a whole other level.
“ Let me buckin’ speak for once! “

Applejack resigned to let her friend speak, trying to find out whatever she did wrong or what that ‘mess’ is referring to.

“ You wanna break me, is that it-?! Well, it ain’t happening “

Applejack was now speechless, what in equestria is she talking about? Did her friend ate too much strawberries and not enough apples?

Guess she’s got another thing to do in her ‘ to-do list ‘ which was already pretty long because of the farm work, yet the time of night and rainbow’s confusing words won’t and wouldn’t let her think a bit straighter.

“ I am not that weak lil filly anymore! I am more then what you’ve ever been…
And you…Look at you! You’re no better than Blazing- You’re no better than a bucking pile of failures for Twilight’s sake!
That’s worse than being last on a race! Worse than knocking some pillars off in a training field! You’re not even competing against me. And are even less comparable to me. “

Applejack tried to digest what she’s being said, but it came back up, just like the day Apple Bloom tried to bake alone with Scootaloo and ended up creating a cursed abomination.
But was she…degrading Applejack? What on Celestia’s name is her friend talking about? Who is that ‘Blazing’ and what ´Failures’ ?

Her heart started to beat fast, she could feel Rainbow Dash’s building rage…
Yet there wasn’t room for thoughts, she finally noticed that Rainbow Dash’s right hoof was stuck with a mirror shard…

While Applejack couldn’t take the view, Rainbow Dash didn’t seemed to notice and even less care.

“ You’ve always said that those… useless… have never been any bucking good for me… let alone Equestria.. “

She posed, glaring as if staring a colossal enemy where Applejack stood.
Even if she already had gotten a death glare in the past, she never got one from Rainbow herself.

“ You’ve said again, again, and again that I deserved to be… “

Another pose.

“ hurt, and way worse… if I continued to side with them, well guess what? I don’t anymore. “

‘Oh no’

A wicked smirk appeared on her friend’s face, as she brought the broken shard closer to her face, eyeing Applejack with it.

« But now… now… IT’S FINALLY MY TURN! »

The rainbow maned mare launched towards the blonde maned one to stab her, but to no avail. Indeed Applejack took hold of the hoof where the makeshift ´knife’ was. Applejack tried to punch the Tartarus out of rainbow, in the literal sense.
She now was sure that if she let Dash take the advantage,
She wouldn’t make it out in one piece.

Her ‘friend’ got ahold of herself in the air, hovering slightly, realizing she’s been disarmed.
Applejack realized that the shard was bloody red from her old friend’s … whatever that was, it made her sick, she never thought of Dash in that current situation, she had to drop it in the bin…but knew it was better to keep it.
She then tried to get some distance from Rainbow…that is until Dash’s hoof connected on her shoulder. Darn mare was fast, way too fast for a night.
Applejack let a grunt of pain, that was a real kick not a simple joke. But she still was standing up and fighting, even if disarmed herself again.

“ What in the rotten apple’s wrong with you-!? “

Rainbow didn’t seemed to have heard what Applejack said:

« - FOR EQUESTRIA’S SAKE , JUST DIE ALREADY-! »

Her breathing could be heard. But her smile fell.
Moreover, she wiped her bloody hoof onto her lips.
Rainbow paused…..

“ ACCEPT IT GODDAMN IT! “

“ WHY CAN’T I BE THE ONE FOR ONCE, HUH? YOU HAVE NEVER HESITATED TO DO THE SAME TO ME BEFORE! “
Escaped her mouth, clear anger expressed though her mouth.

That’s when things clicked. The element of loyalty would never try to kill one of her friend out of the blue. It didn’t seemed that the now clearly unstable Dash knew who she was really talking to.

The ‘embodiment of loyalty’ got behind her…opponent as fast as she could and started to pull on her neck, seemed like Dash was faster on nights too..

´The hay-‘ she tried to kick the wind off Rainbow but she was flying, so she used all of her remaining strength to push her off the judo way, but Dash…once again had wings with all of her energy very late and didn’t landed on the floor.
Applejack grunted again, and tried to think of a plan fast to get out. But at the same time, she realized too slow that Rainbow was getting some shards on the floor, sink, and even some from the rest of the mirror itself, putting them into the nest she created with her robe.

“ TAKE THAT! “

Nevertheless, Rainbow started firing those shards like a canon at…nothing? They simply lied by the door, big and small.
Confused, Applejack took one of those big shards in her mouth as a mean for last moment defense…But it was just an appearance so Rainbow wouldn’t engage just yet.

“ DARN IT, IF YOU CAN’T, LET GO! OR GET UP AND FIGHT ALREADY! Unless you’re too pathetic for that too… “ Dash ordered un-rationally to herself, and then proceeded to drop onto the floor…

Her face grew red and her eyes got even more puffy as she covered her ears.
She ended up closing her eyes, vibrating…. She stared right into the eyes of a photo of her friends… that’s at least what Applejack could see.

“ ...Girls, hold on “
Her closed eyes showed sorrow and moisture… her wings laid blankly at the floor, unmoving because of the weight of her newfound instability.

Applejack got closer to the shards near the exit, silently, wanting to get out of the mad mare’s grasp… Simply to find help to save her from… herself.

Applejack could almost not hear Rainbow Dash’s quiet cry as she turned towards the door, taking her chance…

That is until Dash kicked her ferociously in her guts, making Applejack loose that shard, which cut her lip, and was then stolen by Rainbow….

Applejack had missed the glass pile by a few inches, having been brought to a dead wall…

Even so, due to this almost supersonic kick, the earth mare let out a scream. Her instincts made her turn away from Dash, who was on her way to kick her a second time. She missed a couple times.
The speedster got more and more enraged as minutes passed, while Applejack tried to grab one of her already moving legs.
It worked, somehow miraculously, thanks Celestia. The unstable mare was put on the floor…. Finally.

“ Can’t be more agile or fast on the floor can ya- “

Applejack tried to take ahold of her friend’s forehooves, as hard as it was, and put on her weight on her. Whatever ever was left of her best friend was a ball of energy. She just wanted her trusty lasso more then anything by now.
Rainbow dash let out a scream of desperation.
That is until suddenly the door slowly opened..

A small head showed itself, yawning.
Tank !

Unfortunately, the small moment of confusion turned against Applejack as Dash used it to push her off, and get back to the air.

“ Tank, get out! Get Fluttershy and- “
Applejack screamed, forgetting for a second that tortoises couldn’t fly.

“ Oh hay no-! “ Rainbow screamed and
Punched her directly to her nose, making a cry escape Applejack’s mouth.

Tank slowly closed the door, as if he hasn’t even noticed the shards.
‘Seriously..?’ The farmer thought.

“ Alright Rainbow, calm down- it’s me Applejack! Your friend remember-!? “

What the hay should she say else when her friend’s seeing something else?!

At the mention of her friend’s name, rainbow snapped. Oh gosh darn it.

“ I SAID NO-! “

Rainbow grabbed the nearby chair, dropping the rainbow colored towels on it and used it as a weapon. Faster than light, she struck it, along with her own weight, 3 times on Applejack’s side, Successfully immobilizing her.

A burning sensation was created on Applejack’s side, she felt something cracking. She closed her eyes due to the sudden sharp of the pain and let out a loud scream. It felt as if she physically endured the pain of a magnificent apple harvest ruined by the sharp teeth of vampire fruit bats, making her family loose loads of revenue from the lost apples….

Meanwhile, the crazed Dash started to chuckle, the angry expression turning into a pure, intoxicating laughter…It dragged for so much time that it would be near impossible for her to rest her chest.

“HAVE FUN TRYING TO HURT HER WITH A BROKEN RIB - LET’S SEE WHO’S THE WINNER NOW~! Heheh, looks like your own orders got against you… “
She said, her tone seeming to border the last ring of whatever sanity was left.

But Applejack found the strength to open her eyes either way, even if just staring at the door.
Breathing hurts now, and she didn’t wanted to stay here in Rainbow Dash’s mercy. But those thoughts only caused more pain and an even more burning sensation on her chest.

She could hear her ribcage struggle to rise itself..

The mad mare giggled after recovering from her initial crackle, and got closer to applejack, who still couldn’t accept her fate. Afterwards, she perks at Applejack sides, trying to grip something, but she touched the ground.

« Wait.. What the buck - did you just become an- »

A long silence followed those words… with Rainbow’s gaze looking lost in the inside as in the outside… until it was broken once again.

« Aj-? »

Applejack slowly turned her head, face to face with whatever replaced her friend. She hoped her friend was back and that it wasn’t a changeling.. Which wasn’t possible, why would one enact that? They are friends with ponies now!

But back to Rainbow, just what the hay had gotten into her suddenly?
Either way, Applejack was too busy covering up her bruised side which started to leak red to care about understanding Rainbow Dash’s incomprehensible words and touches, the injured mare tried to organize her thoughts.

She kept going back to one simple question:
How, just how did this happen, everything was fine, even some hours earlier and now dash threw up a fit, did Applejack hurt Rainbow in someway? No impossible, she literally has put aside her own issues to help Rainbow get better yesterday.
Then what is it? Is Rainbow Dash hiding something? Definitely, but why?… Even if she knew it wasn’t the case, she hoped it was something that she could deal with as a friend but she doubted it would be simple, what even caused that kind of situation? ….She really should have been faster to get out, but could she really let Rainbow Dash alone for a couple minutes? Is whatever this is Rainbow Dash?

In spite of that, she felt her friend’s hooves meeting her own, something that used to make her blush even if the Pegasus was pretty clueless to the signs of affection she gives.
But right now she isn’t with her Rainbow.

« Aj is that…..you? » the once powerful mare’s voice sounded so weak.. It put an end to her brainstorming, and now she met the gaze of her friend: she couldn’t take that sight. She wanted the mare of her affection back.

Just come back.

And while she couldn’t understand everything her ´friend’ told her, some words have been understood : “ Sorry “, being the most important thing to hear, “ Okay? “ “ Where? “ And “ Help? “ Followed.

And so she tried to communicate back.
“Am…Ah okay? Ah should ask that question to ya, ya mad lady-! “

“Ah also think… ya broke somethin’ “

Seemed like it didn’t help, the pegasus just took Applejack into her fore hooves, hugging her into a cursed position due to her own bloodied bruise touching Rainbow, and don’t get her started on the fact that she didn’t even noticed that this position ain’t helping the pain at all. It definitely wasn’t Rainbow Dash…

“ Don’t touch me… “
Rainbow Dash didn’t budge nor move at those words.

“ B-but where am..? “

“ Your house “

“ Let me…go “ At this point, she simply wanted to be alone.
“ Oh, go to Cloudsdale-? “

“ Why would ah wanna be in Cloudsdale? ” she said sarcastically. Can’t she understand a simple sentence?
Yes, Rainbow didn’t even seemed to understand this rhetoric question.

“ Because uh….. Clouds? “
Rainbow dash paused.
“ Can I help? “

“ Uh never mind, just get me out.. “

She just didn’t wanted her to be around.
At the same time Dash was unreasonable…Unfortunately, she has to do with this mare since it seemed that now her life depended on her…
After a couple tries, The apple mare has been brought to this mare’s back: She tried to secure herself by the neck and hips of her friend.
She noticed that her friend hissed once her hips were touched, whatever that meant in that context, it’s a fact that it’s not positive...Applejack just felt so tired of this whole ordeal right now.

“ Ready? “

“ …Yup “ she responded.

Rainbow Dash then took off her bathroom, corridor and then her house all together, trying to join the ER.
On the flight though, seeing that flying calmed down the other mare, Applejack tried to strike a quick conversation since she noticed that the flight was slow. But seemed like the fast one was faster anyways to speak.

“ I can explain…talk once I’m done with Tank… “
Rainbow paused, with a long silence.
“ …you’re awesome “

Was she imagining Applejack talking now?

No words were spoken though this time.
She then eventually started sleeping, seemed like her not official special pony’s body was conforming to sleep on even in times like those.
The last thing she noticed before closing definitely her eyes were that that house’s rainbows were shinning bright…since when would rainbows illuminate things?

She would have time to think later, too much time if she had to be honest….

Author's Note

I’m actually drawing something for that chapter! Just kinda was busy…