Winds of Change

Winds of Change

Chapter Seven

Rainbow Dash slowly awoke from her slumber. She stirred in her bed for a couple of seconds, and let out a yawn that was long and, for Rainbow being a mare, quite loud. She sat up in her bed and finally decided to open her eyes. The light pouring through the hole in the wall, which was her window, momentarily blinded her. After getting used to the light, she surveyed her surroundings and noticed that she was not at the farm house. After a few moments of taking in her surroundings, she recalled what happened yesterday. She was flooded by a mix of emotions; she felt uneasy, unsure of herself, and she regretted what she had said to her friend. But what concerned her the most was the fact that she felt relief; she felt free, and she felt slightly happy.

She got out of the bed and headed for the bathroom. When she had done her daily washing routine she once again stepped into the bedroom and looked at the clock. By the light that shone through the window she guessed it was quite late. Looking at the clock, she confirmed that she was right; it was eleven o’clock in the afternoon.

Dash sighed. She thought about the farm. With a small smirk, she recalled the fact that if she stayed on the farm she probably would already be up for a few good hours, doing various jobs around the farm. She looked around. She could do anything! No chores to do, no apples to buck, no set time of waking up, just freedom. She pondered for a second on what to eat for breakfast.

She walked to her kitchen and looked around; the place was abandoned by her quite a while ago. There was a pile of dirty plates in the sink. Dash looked at them, wondering if she should clean them, but decided against it with a short “Nah”.

The colorful mare opened the fridge and saw a bag of hay fries amongst some other things like a unidentified substance in a bowl with a spoon in it, a few cans and jars, a slice of pizza on a plate and some alcohol. She took the bag of hay fries, opened it and let the fries fall onto a frying pan. After the fries were fried she placed them on a plate and the plate on the table. She threw the frying pan on top of the other dirty dishes in the sink, and sat down near the table. Dash looked on the fries and realized that she would be eating a meal not containing apples for the firs time in many weeks. With a smile she devoured the still hot fries.

After the meal was finished Dash pondered on what to do for the rest of the day. After living on the farm for two or three weeks she resigned from her work as a weather mare. That meant that she could do whatever she wanted, for now of course. The thought of getting her job back was lurking somewhere in the back of her head, but she didn’t dedicate too much attention to it, not just yet.

An idea occurred to her. She looked back at her wings and gave them a few flaps. The Pegasus didn’t ponder the decision for too long and trotted to the main door, leaving the dirty plate on the cloud table.

Rainbow opened the door and immediately was overtaken by the atmosphere. The air had a fresh morning scent to it. The gentle breeze fanned her form, instantly refreshing her. The air was slightly chilly at this altitude, but it wasn’t a problem for Rainbow Dash: she was born for this. She spread her wings, immediately catching wind. She smirked, ran the few meters to the edge of the cloud, and jumped.

She folded her wings for aerodynamics and let her form plummet head first to the ground for several seconds. The wind whistled in her ears and ruffled her mane, her tail whipping furiously behind her. The sudden rush of adrenaline cleared any left over signs of sleep. When the ground was dangerously close, the brash Pegasus did a barrel roll and finally decided to reopen her wings.

She started leveling up on a soft arc, flying between the buildings in the Ponyville outskirts and startling a few ponies. The feeling of flying again pushed all of Dash’s emotions Into the back of her mind, replacing them with pure happiness and joy. Rainbow started to pull up and soon was amongst the clouds again. She perched on one of the clouds, breathed heavily and looked down on Ponyville with a smile plastered on her face.

Oh, it surely does feel good to be back home! She thought with a laugh.

Rainbow couldn’t stand to stay in one place for too long. A few seconds later she jumped, went right through the center of the cloud she was sitting on and opened her wings again. Flying always served as a way of clearing her mind. It helped her forget.

The Pegasus spotted a nearby lake and headed towards it. She gained speed and descended to fly just above the otherwise stoic lake. The powerful flaps of her wings created ripples of water that traveled to the very edges of the lake and disappeared. Dash lowered her fore hoof and dipped it in the water, creating a exquisite cascade of tiny water droplets, shimmering in the sun and creating a elusive rainbow when combined with the rays of sunlight. The water dampened Rainbow’s coat and mane; this further refreshed the Pegasus, and pumped even more joy into her heart.

When the show was over the mare landed at the edge of the lake with a thud, and gazed in awe at the rainbow she just produced. After the rainbow dissipated in the air, Dash once again rocketed into the air with speed that would make any Pegasus envious. She continued doing various tricks including loop-de-loops, barrel rolls and figures of eight between clouds.

After an hour or so of this exhausting but rewarding ‘task’, the Pegasus landed on the sand near the lake. She breathed heavily, but was smiling. An idea occurred to the mare.

Well, well, well, isn’t this the time I used to take naps at? she thought with a ever growing smirk.

After a short moment of wondering whether to rest on a tree or a cloud, she chose the latter. Dash flew up to a suitable cloud with a few powerful flaps and landed atop of it. She laid down, shifted for a few seconds and tried to ease her mind. At first, it was hard for her to close her eyes and try to dive into the land of sleep because of the adrenaline still pumping in her veins, but after a moment she finally managed to calm herself.

I missed you, freedom she managed to think with a smile just before falling into a deep sleep.

-«<♦>»-

“I miss you Dash,” Applejack whispered gloomily, while looking out the window in her room on the farm. She was searching the sky for any sign of her beloved mare for some time now, but to no effect.

The last night was nearly a sleepless one for the orange mare. Her mind was replaying the whole argument again and again in her mind, preventing her from sleeping, and only adding to her sorrow and sadness. Tears were streaming out of her eyes for the large part of the night; her pillow was soaked with them. When she finally managed to fall asleep she had another nightmare, but this time it was far worse than the others. This was of Rainbow Dash viciously leaving her for some filthy stallion in Manehattan.

The farmer also failed to get up on time to work on the farm. Her brother came to her room at the normal time to try to wake her up. When he entered, he saw his sister in a shallow and uneasy sleep, her breathing sounded irregular. He didn’t fail to notice that her pillow was wet and her mane was ruffled. He delicately tried to wake her up, and when he succeeded the mare refused to get up. When Big Mac got a little more insistent, Applejack threatened to tear up again, so the stallion left her. He never was the one to understand other ponies’ emotions well.

When she finally got up, she was mentally unable to perform any work, and it was slowly driving her crazy. She had to do something; she couldn’t stand sitting around, doing nothing. The rest of the Apple family was probably at the field working, and Granny Smith was surely sleeping peacefully in her rocking-chair.

The orange pony decided to leave her room; she was already sick of it. She laid her sight on the nightstand next to her bed, searching for her favorite hat, but she didn’t find it there. She guessed that it must have fallen of her head when she was galloping to the farm house after her disastrous argument with her love.

The thought of the argument, as brief as it was, was threatening to cause another downpour of tears, so Applejack exited her room and walked into the kitchen. As she had guessed previously, Granny Smith was asleep in her rocking chair, as she tended to in recent months.

The orange earth pony exited the farm house, hoping that the fresh air would help her to regain her composure, even partially. The warm and fresh air that enveloped the mare certainly helped to bring a little peace to her uneasy mind. She took a few deep breaths and stretched her back a little.

The farmer slowly started trotting down the path to proper Ponyville. The nature that surrounded the area never ceased to amaze her. The road trailed between seemingly never-ending rows of apple trees; the birds chirped happily, and other critters went about their business here and there. She could hear the faint sound of her brother bucking trees, and the joyful yells of her younger sister somewhere on the far end of the orchard.

After some time she exited the farm grounds and entered the village. Despite her effort she didn’t really feel nearly any better, in comparison to how she felt before exiting the house. Applejack understood that the beauty of the nature itself, however magnificent it was, won’t make her feel better; she needed to talk to someone. She didn’t choose anypony from the farm because of Apple Bloom being too young to understand and Big Mac not being the best when it came to consoling somepony.

After a moment of pondering who to go to, she made the quite obvious choice: Fluttershy. She was by far the best pony to go to in times of need like this. She decided she will look for her in the village’s main park. The yellow Pegasus could be frequently found there, caring for the various animals that inhabited the trees and bushes of the park.

When she entered the park through the gate, she found it nearly devoid of any ponies. The only ponies she saw were a dark blue stallion that she vaguely remembered selling apples to, sitting on a bench next to a mare that Applejack believed went by the name of Rose.

Applejack searched the whole park for her yellow friend, listening closely for her singing. She was often teaching the young birds that hatched and lived in the park to sing and chirp. But after several minutes Applejack understood that her effort was futile: her friend wasn’t here. She inwardly cursed herself for apparently being too shaken and absentminded to check the cottage first.

She started galloping to her friend’s cottage soon after. When she reached her destination, stopped in front of the door, and rose her hoof to knock, she hesitated. She didn’t really know what to say when her friend started asking questions, such as ‘why has the farmer visited her?’ She lowered her hoof, her mind deep in thought. This was the first time she had the need to tell somepony about her worries and troubles.

When she thought that coming here was not a good idea after all, the mare started to turn around to walk away. Right then the door to the cottage opened, revealing the yellow Pegasus on the other side.

“Um... Hello Applejack,” Fluttershy said shyly, her face partially obscured by her long pink mane. “I saw you run up to the door and stand there from the window on the second floor. When I saw that you wanted to knock, but turned away, I decided to come down,” she said, looking at the farmer with her big blue eyes.

“W-Well, howdy there, heh, Ah j-just-” Applejack stuttered uneasily.

“Shhhhhh...” Fluttershy quietly hushed her friend. “Is it about you and Rainbow Dash?” she said with a small reassuring smile.

Applejack didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s alright,” the yellow mare responded with her usual soft voice, and motioned to her friend to come into the house.

After the both mares entered, Fluttershy closed the door and sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. She meaningfully tapped a place next to her with her hoof. When Applejack got the hint and sat down her friend started.

“I heard the whole argument that happened yesterday between you and Rainbow Dash. Tell me, um, what happened next... If that’s okay with you, of course.”

“Well, basically n-nothing happened, and that’s what worries me the most,” the blond earth pony responded. “I haven’t heard from Dash since I r-ran away from her yesterday.”

“Dash just needs some time alone... she needs to relax and rest from her work at the farm and I’m sure that she will come back,” the yellow mare said with a tender voice. “As you probably know, she came to me when she arrived in Ponyville. She needed to talk to me; she didn’t want to come back to the farm. So I told her that maybe she would take a break from, um, the farm and all,” she finished.

“Oh, really?” Applejack asked, looking up at the Pegasus. She couldn’t possibly be mad at her yellow friend; she knew that it wasn’t her fault. Dash might have done something worse if not for Fluttershy’s proposition. “And what did she say?”

“Rainbow agreed that this is a good idea and decided to do so. But she also told me that she will be coming back to the farm, she’s sure about that,” Fluttershy said with a gentle smile. She raised her hoof and gently placed it on her friend’s cheek. “So I’m sure that she will come back to a loving and caring marefriend like you are.” Fluttershy finished with a soft smile and a slight blush. She put her hoof back on the soft surface of the couch.

“Heh, thanks ‘Shy. She really must come back if she previously said so.” Applejack said with a small smile.

“Yes, I just know that she won’t break her word, and besides, she is the Element of Loyalty after all,” Fluttershy responded with a small chuckle, soon Applejack joined.

“Well, thanks again Fluttershy. Ah feel a lot better now and Ah don’t know what Ah would do without you,” Applejack said with a smile of gratitude. “Ah would love to stay but Ah need to get back to the farm... we are behind in apple bucking without me.” The blond pony got up from her spot on the couch and got to the main door.

“You are most welcome, see you then.” The meek Pegasus responded and waved goodbye to the mare, shooting her one last smile.

“Again, Ah’m sorry that Ah can’t stay longer, see ya!” the farmer responded, and left the cottage. Her mood was good enough for her to work again. Fluttershy worked wonders, as always. She directed her trot to the farm grounds.

After a short trip during which the nature seemed even more dazzling and marvelous for the orange mare then before, she reached the orchard. She searched a while for her brother and young sister. They were spotted by her, bucking trees somewhere on the edge of the orchard.

When she was close to them she quietly said, “Hello,” and looked down at the ground before her, with a small smile. She was embarrassed about her previous behavior. She didn’t want her family, especially her younger sister, to see her as a weak pony that easily cries. The farmer hoped that her younger sister’s opinion on her didn’t change too much, that she was still strong and fearless in her eyes.

“Oh.” Big Mac was slightly startled by the sudden appearance. “Well howdy there ‘sis, Ah thought you still was at your room in the farm house-”

“Hi ‘sis!” Apple Bloom cut in waving her hoof, exuberant as always. Big Mac gave her a flat look but she didn’t seem to notice. She soon went back to her attempts at successfully bucking a tree.

“Ah see that yer mood seems to be better, huh?”

“Well, heh, Ah went to see Fluttershy, and she helped me. We talked for a while and she said that Dash told her that she will come back to the farm when they talked. Ah’m sure that Dash will not break her word.”

“Well that’s certainly good to hear that you are back on track.” Big Mac said smiling. It was easy to tell that he loved his sister and was concerned about her well being, and was relieved when he heard what she said.

“And what’s better, Ah feel like working again.” Applejack admitted with a smile. Without another word spoken by the orange mare, she moved to the nearest tree and bucked it. The apples neatly fell into their baskets, this pony really knew how to do it.

“Whoa, ain’t my ‘sis a lil’ workaholic?” The red stallion said with one of his rare chuckles and went back to doing his job.

-«<♦>»-

As the moon started its slow but steady journey over the night sky, both of the mares were already in their beds. Dash was exhausted; after her nap she spent the whole day on flying and training for the Wonderbolts. While Applejack was sure that their relationship will be renewed between them, Dash wasn’t all that sure.

A/N - Here's the new chapter! Yay! If you have any feedback please leave a comment!