Winds of Change

Winds of Change

Chapter Five

The sound of the approaching train grew louder and louder. When it was close enough, it began to stop, making a loud screech. When it finally came to a halt and the doors opened, a few ponies exited the train an the Ponyville station. Among them was a certain cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane. She walked a few steps away from the train and looked up at the sun, clenched her eyelids slightly and tried to determine the time. It was nearly midday.

Rainbow Dash lowered her head and looked down on to the ‘Mane Street’ that stretched before her. She tightened the set of harnesses that her bag was equipped with and walked through the station and onto the mane street. Flying with a heavy bag strapped to yourself was not easy, even for the best flier in Equestria.

She was walking for a few minutes now. She silently wished that her walk could be much longer. She didn’t really know what to do.

I-I don’t really want to go back there...

The thought escaped before she could really control it. She felt disgusted by herself for thinking this way, but deep inside her heart she knew this to be true.

But I need to go back there! I have a loving marefriend waiting for me, she, for sure, is concerned about me...

Rainbow Dash felt lost. She needed some more time to rethink the whole situation. She planned to think on it during the long train ride, but she dozed off from the mental strain this task was putting on her. She was regretting it now. Of course, she had plenty of time during her stay at Manehattan, but, then, she was trying to forget about her problems and have a good time.

Dash noticed that she was standing in the middle of the Mane street for quite a while now. She looked around and saw the entrance gate to the Ponyville’s main park. She decided that she will take a little break and rest there.

She walked through the gate and reached a small stone fountain that was comprised of three ponies. Each pony was the representative of each of the three pony tribes. Rainbow Dash selected a bench that faced the fountain to sit on. She walked to it, took her bag of and placed it near the feet of the bench. She then sat on the bench and concentrated her gaze on the fountain, she hoped it would calm her and let her think for a while.

Dash pictured Applejack in her mind. She examined the pony before her. But before she could reach any reasonable conclusion a yell had interrupted her.

“Hey! Rainbow! Rainbow Dash! Here!” yelled a familiar voice. Dash started to look around tying to localize the sound source. Her gaze has turned to the bench at the other side of the fountain. It was occupied by one of her best friends, Twilight Sparkle. Her friend was occupied by her favorite activity; reading. How could Dash not see her? She was perfectly across of the bench she chose to sit on. Dash really didn’t want anything to distract her, but at the same time she was not the kind of pony to just ignore a friend or pretend she never heard her.

“Hey, Twilight! I’m happy to see you!” she lied. She felt angry at herself, or rather at her own feelings. When did she became such a bad friend? At least she thought that she became a bad friend.

Twilight waved at her, getting a little concerned if the Pegasus was going to move at all. The Pegasus did. She took the bag in her teeth and slowly flew over the fountain. She always selected air over earth and the bag was not that heavy.

When she landed beside the purple pony and repeated, “Hey Twilight. I’m happy to see you.” She couldn’t really think of anything better to say or do so she just waited for a response, looking at the unicorn expectantly.

“Hello Rainbow! I think I saw you coming from the train station and I didn’t fail to notice the bag on your back. Did you go somewhere and just got back?” Twilight said quizzically, deductive as always.

Why did I have to meet this bookworm right now? She normally was more than happy to meet with her friends for a chat, but this was not a normal situation.

“Yea, I kind of went to Manehattan for a short vacation...” She trailed off, not knowing why she was so embarrassed of this. She suddenly got the feeling that she betrayed the Apple family is some way.

“OH, OK. You didn’t tell me anything! So now we have the time to cat-” She suddenly stopped as if she got enlightened by a brilliant idea. “Wait, I thought that the apple buck season just ended. If you were away, didn’t you miss it?” Twilight asked in genuine astonishment.

“Yea,” Rainbow Dash replied, “I missed it.”

Why is she poking her nose in other’s ponies business? She asked herself in her thoughts. She never had thought this under normal circumstances, but she was very worked up from the whole situation.

“So why did you miss it? I thought, now that you are technically a part of the family, that you should help with the apple bucking,” She said tilting her head slightly in concern. “Of course I would gladly hel-” She was cut off by the Pegasus.

“So do you think that now, I can’t do whatever I want to?” the cyan mare loudly retorted, anger clear in her voice. “You think that the family can hinder me with their, THEIR responsibilities? Well imagine that they can’t!” Dash now nearly shouted.

Twilight just sat there extremely bewildered. She honestly didn’t know how to respond to her friends outburst of unexplained emotion. They stared at each other for a while. Dash started regretting what she had done, her anger subsiding. The silence between them prolonged and got a little awkward. Rainbow couldn’t stand it anymore. She quickly grabbed one of her bag’s harnesses in her mouth and with a fierce flap of her wings took into the air. She looked down to see Twilight still looking at her, apparently at a loss of words. Rainbow started flying in a random direction, only to get away from her friend. The anger left, leaving place only for remorse.

When the fountain was far enough Dash landed. She looked around to notice that she landed on a small bridge. She let her bag fall on to it with a small thump. The cyan mare looked around and noticed that this was the bridge that lead to a small cottage that was home to a yellow Pegasus named Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash pondered this for a while. She could go to the Pegasus and be welcomed with opened hooves or go back to the farm. She really could not select the latter, for reasons she even did not know.

Rainbow Dash took into the air, leaving her bag on the bridge. When at an appropriate elevation she looked at the distant Apple family farm house. She just couldn’t go back there. Even the sight of the house was somehow discouraging her from going there. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she wanted to come back there, she could not. She tried to decipher her own feelings. Maybe she grew bored from the mundane life of an earth pony?

Her train of thought was once again derailed by a familiar yell. This time the yell was barely audible and incoherent from this altitude for the cyan pony. She looked down to see her Pegasus friend, Fluttershy standing near on the bridge that Dash was standing not seconds ago.

The airborne Pegasus descended to meet with her friend on the bridge. When her hooves touched the bridge Fluttershy meekly said, “Hello, um, Rainbow. If I may ask, what are you doing in front of my cottage? OH, of course I’m not angry or anything, I’m just asking...”

“OH, hello ‘Shy,” the blue mare responded, looking at her friend. “I don’t really know what am I doing...” She trailed off and fell silent.

Fluttershy immediately noticed that something was not right with her friend. “Do you plan, um, to go somewhere?” she said. looked at the black bag that was laying in front of the Pegasus and redirected her eyes back on Dash.

“No, not really. I just go back from a short vacation in Manehattan.” Dash responded and hoped that the conversation will not end like the last one she had with Twilight.

“So you missed the apple buck season!” Fluttershy said loudly, as loud as she can get, when she realised the truth. “Wasn’t Applejack a little upset that you, um, left and did not help with the apple harvest?”

The cyan mare was mildly surprised that Fluttershy was faster than Twilight in deducting this out. At the same time she felt the same rush of anger when the apple bucking was mentioned. This time however she tried her best to keep those feelings at bay.

“Yes, I missed it...” Rainbow once again said and looked down. “I know that I shouldn’t have missed it, but I was slowly freaking out in the farm house... I really needed to get out of there... I don’t really know what happened to me then.” She did not look up from the ground.

“Do you want to come in?” Fluttershy asked. She saw in what mood her friend was in. “Come, let’s go,” she said, not waiting for a response. Her voice was meek but firm at the same time. The yellow Pegasus took Dash’s bag in her mouth and went towards her cottage. Rainbow didn’t have a choice now. She didn’t want to talk with anypony now but deep inside she knew that she could use the help of Fluttershy.

As they entered, Angel Bunny looked at the newcomer for a second. When he recognised Dash, he assumed that she was of no harm and concentrated on devouring the small carrot that lay before him.

Dash sat on the couch and looked at her yellow friend expectantly.

“Do you want something to drink? Or, um, eat? I have anything that you might want to have...” she said, caring and motherly as always.

“No, thanks, I’m not hungry, thirsty or anything really...” She trailed off once again.

Fluttershy seated herself on a blue hoof-chair that was next to the couch and looked tight into Dash’s eyes. “Se tell me Rainbow, what has happened?” she said with a small encouraging smile.

“Well, as you know me and Applejack are together for a while now. Recently, before my vacation in Manehattan, I started feeling... strange.” She stopped to take a breath and to ponder how to translate her feelings into words. “I... felt overwhelmed.”

“Overwhelmed by what?” the canary mare gently asked. She was very careful not to push on the subject; it was rare for Dash to open up like this.

“I... I don’t think I know.” She closed her eyes, as if this was supposed to help her with coming up with an answer.

“Did the vacation help you? Did you feel better?” the timid mare asked. She needed to collect as much information as she could for effective help.

“Yes! Yes it did...” the tomboy pony said loudly and then felt silent. “I felt free in Manehattan... you know, all the parties, sleeping late into the day,” she hesitantly continued. “But now when I’m supposed to come back to the farm I feel all of that happiness and... freedom escaping from my body.”

Fluttershy looked at her friend for a moment and opened her mouth to say something, but her sentence was cut off before it started by Dash.

“What the hay is wrong?” Rainbow said loudly looking back at the floor, her face a confused and pained frown. “I... l-love Applejack...” She said and paused for a moment. “Yea! I love her.” This time it sounded slightly more convincing.

“I think I know what the problem might be,” the yellow mare finally said, although her face was no longer a smile. It now was a slight frown, as if she was on the verge of tears. “You are a Pegasus, Rainbow.”

“Yea, I noticed, you know!” Dash loudly admitted. Anger was slowly overtaking her, she thought that her best and lifelong friend is making fun of her.

“Wait!” The meek Pegasus said unusually loudly. “I didn’t finish.”

When Dash heard that she tried to distinguish the flame of her anger; she knew that her friend wasn’t really making fun of her. Rainbow just was worked up about the whole ordeal lately. She fell quiet and let the mare beside her continue.

“I think, um, that since you moved to Applejack you led a life of an earth pony. You got up early, went to work, and went to sleep early. This can be OK for somepony like me,” she hesitantly continued, “but not for you Dash. I think that the thing that you was so overwhelmed by was... a sense of limitation, if you understand me...”

Dash nodded slowly, starting to understand the whole situation.

“I don’t think you can live on the ground Dash... you are meant for the skies. Tell me, when was the last time you flew? Not to move something, but just for fun, for the, um, rush of adrenaline,” Fluttershy questioned her friend.

Rainbow opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. She thought about this. She didn’t remember. Rainbow Dash, the best flier in Equestria, the only pony able to perform the dazzling Sonic Rainboom, didn’t know when was the last time she went flying.

“I-I don’t remember...” she admitted slowly. “I was flying here and there during my stay at the Sweet Apple Acres, but never for fun.”

“You see...” the shy pony said with a smile but then immediately frowned. “Don’t be mad at what I’m about to say next,” she quietly said, looking at the floor.

“No, I won’t be mad...” Dash responded absentmindedly, still a little dazed by the revelation.

“I think that you need... to go back to your cloud house... OH, not forever, I would never advise you two to break up... I meant for some time only... I think this will do you good,” the yellow Pegasus advised and tried to look reassuring.

“I think that this is a good idea...” the light blue mare replied. “For only some time... I will come back.” she said more to convince herself than anypony else.

Fluttershy was about to respond but was cut short by a loud and hasty knock on the door. The timid mare hid behind her luxurious pink mane with a soft ‘eek’.

-«<♦>»- About a hour earlier -«<♦>»-

“This was sure some delicious pie!” Apple Bloom said with glee after eating her apple pie. The whole Apple family was sitting near their table in the farm house kitchen. They were having some late brunch.

“So sis, when are ya headin’ out?” Big Mac asked Applejack in his usual calm voice. Now that the apple harvest was over the Apple family was left with sore muscles and tons of apples. The apples had to be sold before they rotted, which was an awfully short period of time. Some apples were taken by carriages to factories in bigger cities like Stalliongrad. However, there were always some apples left, so the family members had to sell them in the town. This was Applejack’s task for today.

“We finished eating so Ah’m going right now,” she said. The farm pony managed to calm down a little since her outburst yesterday. She was still a little shaken but she was sure that Dash will come back to her. She came to this conclusion while laying lifelessly on her bed last night. Applejack didn’t expect Dash to just outright leave her and stay in Manehattan.

She slowly got up from the table and thanked for the meal. She exited the house without another word and headed to the shed. Inside was a cart full of apples and a special folding apple stand connected to the cart, so they could be pulled at the same time by one pony. The stand was a box, smaller than the cart. It had a lever on its side that, when pulled, a few shelves popped out from the stand to advertise the apples, and a counter to make the sales on.

She put the harness on her back and moved out of the barn. After a short, but exhausting ride, she arrived at Ponyville’s main square. She set up the stand, put apples on it and moved behind the counter to wait for customers. A short while the first customer arrived. He was a dark blue Pegasus stallion with a black mane and long tail.

“Hello, I would like to buy a braeburn, a fresh one, if available,” he said with a small smile.

“Welcome to our Apple stand, Apple family apples the best brand!” Applejack absentmindedly recited from her memory and put a ripe braeburn on the counter. “That’ll be three bits sir.”

The stallion placed the desired amount of bits on the counter and grabbed the apple in his mouth. With a muffled “Have a nice day!” he ran of to a destination known only to him.

Applejack didn’t have time to think about the peculiar behavior of her customer because nopony other than Twilight Sparkle came to the apple stand. She was levitating a book near her.

“Hello Applejack!” she happily stated when close enough.

“OH! Howdy there, Twi! How can Ah serve ya?” the mare responded looking at her dear friend.

“I would like a red gala if you’ll manage, please,” she said with a pleasant tone.

“Of course Ah’ll manage,” Applejack responded and handed the apple. “Two bits please,”

When Twilight payed and levitated her new snack she remembered something.

“Hey Applejack, I saw Rainbow Dash earlier today! Her behavior was... odd,” she said thoughtfully.

When the earth pony heard this her ears perked up and her face immediately turned to her friend. “Really!?” she shouted. “Where is she? AH didn’t see her for over a week! Why didn’t she come to me...” she added, not so loud that time.

“Well I saw her at the park less than a hour ago. She said that she was on some kind of vacation and just arrived at Ponyville. When I asked if she missed the apple buck season she got suddenly very angry, shouted something about that that she can do whatever she wants and flew off.” She stopped for a while, then continued. “When I got rid of the initial shock she was already too far away to hear me.”

“Where did she fly to?” Applejack asked with a very urgent tone. She looked if she was about to break down in front of Twilight. “Where did she fly to!?” the farmer repeated, louder and more insistent than last time.

“I think that she flew somewhere in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, but I’m not one hundred percent sure,” she gingerly responded, slightly taken aback from experiencing a second outburst today.

Without another word spoken Applejack started running in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage leaving the stand and the cart to Twilight. Her screams for her to wait weren’t effective at the slightest.

Why the hay didn’t she come back to me? Applejack kept repeating in her mind over and over again. With every repeat the thought was getting louder.

When the athletic pony finally made it to the cottage she skidded to a halt in front of the door. She swung her hoof backwards and hit the door in a powerful knock that would wake up a slumbering bear.

A / N - Please comment and rate! Don’t worry, I happily read constructive criticism and praise even happier.