Remorse

Applejack was finally released from the hospital. Her wounds had healed and the snow had finally melted. She took a deep sniff of the cheery Springtime air and breathed it out again. It smelt like flowers. It also smelt a bit like baking, since she was standing right outside Sugarcube Corner.

She went for a walk around town, keeping an eye out for Rainbow Dash. She couldn't see her anywhere, but she couldn't be in the clouds. Her wing wouldn't of healed that fast. She asked everypony she walked past, but none of them had seen Rainbow Dash for a few hours. So, she went and asked Twilight.

She knocked on Twilight's door and when she answered, she was glad to see Applejack again, out of the hospital. However, she then remembered what Applejack said about Rainbow Dash last time and got a bit worried for Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Twilight. Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked

"Umm... No. No I haven't. Why?" Said Twilight.

"I have to find her." Applejack said.

"Well, she got pretty worried when I told her what you said."

Twilight had lied. She knew exactly where Rainbow Dash was, but she wasn't telling Applejack that. There was no telling what AJ was going to do to her, but if she wanted to pick another fight, surely Rainbow Dash wouldn't fight back. No-one could be that ignorant. Right?

"Well, I'm not getting any closer to finding her by just sitting here." Applejack said, as she turned around to leave.

Before she left, Twilight spoke up. "Applejack, just promise me you won't do anything stupid."

Applejack nodded and shut the door behind her as she walked off.

She looked everywhere. Around town, in the park, everywhere! She even checked a few of the clouds, just to be sure, but Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found.

Then, in the corner of her eye, she sees a blue figure in the distance. She turns and looks at it, but it was gone. Instead, there was a tree there.

She starts to walk toward where it had appeared. As she got closer, she noticed shadow, laying on the ground beside the tree's own shadow. She then picks up her pace a bit, approaching the tree a little faster. Soon, she is a mere 10 meters away from the tree. She takes another step, but steps on a small branch. The snapping of the branch made the shadow jump a bit. And then it ran off. Applejack saw the figure. A sky-blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. It was Rainbow Dash.

Applejack chased after her, slowly getting closer and closer. Rainbow Dash looked back and saw Applejack chasing after her. She turned back, but didn't have enough time to get out of the way of a large branch, inconveniently stretching out across the path at head height.

Rainbow Dash whacked her face across it and fell onto the ground, lying towards the sky. She watched as Applejack inevitably caught her.