//------------------------------// // Dreams // Story: Fate After Failure // by Antisocialtwilight //------------------------------// Fate After Failure Chapter 10: Dreams As Applejack laid still in her hospital bed, she was drifting in and out of consciousness, but her coherence was slowly fading. She heard her Aunt and Uncle Orange, telling a nurse to do everything they can for her, then drifted off. She saw the pink blur of her best friend crying for her, then drifted off. She heard Pinkamena climb onto the chair beside her bed, talking to her like it was another day at school. "Hey Applejack, it's Pinka...Pinkie." Pinkie said, trying to sound casual. "It's Pinkie Pie. I met this really nice nurse, she said that you might be able to hear me. I don't know, but if you can...I hope you get well soon." Pinkie Pie, huh? S'got a ring to it...I like it. Applejack thought before fading away again. This time, however, instead of fading away into the dark like before, she found herself on a dirt road on a sunny day, a light breeze caressing her face, making it seem all more real. She was already walking when she drifted into her body, so she kept walking. She didn't know where she was, where she was going, or why she was walking on the dirt road at all, but Applejack felt her gut tell her to keep walking, that she was almost there. Applejack walked for what felt like hours, but she didn't feel tired at all. She decided not to question it, her gut pushed her on, re-assuring her that she was almost there. Finally, her surroundings started to become familiar: it reminded her of home, Sweet Apple Acres. It hit her like a ton of bricks how homesick she was. She began to run, like she hadn't run for years. After another minute, Applejack was home. She found Big Macintosh and Granny Smith waiting there. Granny Smith was on the brink of tears, but this time they were tears of joy, unlike the last time she saw her grandmother cry for her. Big Macintosh wasn't crying, but Applejack could see the joy in his eyes. He missed her like she missed him, like she missed being home. She ran into Granny Smith's arms, feeling the warmth of her embrace, the warmth of home, and a warmth on her flank. Applejack looked to her flank and saw her cutie mark, three apples, etch itself onto her flank. At that moment, Applejack knew for sure that coming home was the right decision. A few months passed, and it was Applejack's birthday, and like every year, the Apple family had their signature Apple pie. Although Applejack knew she was having it on her birthday, she still acted surprised when Granny Smith and Big Macintosh brought it in her room when she awoke. She only bothered with her charade for a minute before digging into the delicious and rare pie. "Slow down, kid! I know y'all got that party with your friends today, but that ain't 'till later!" Granny Smith said. "Party? What in the hay are you talkin' about, Granny?" Applejack looked up from her breakfast in confusion. It didn't seem odd to her to have a birthday party, but nobody told her... "Granny, was it supposed to be a surprise party?" "Yeah, that Pinkie friend o' yours is so nice to...oh, yeah, I guess it was supposed to be a surprise! Hehehe!" Granny Smith recounted. "Why don't you just pretend that you're surprised, like you did with the Apple Family Pie?" "I sure as sugar will, Granny. Parties mean so much to that girl. Where's the party gonna be?" "I ain't tellin' you that, at least that part's still a surprise. How's about you do me a favor and get some barrels from the barn for Big Mac's Applebuckin' chores when you're finished with that pie? He's gonna have his hands full while you take a day off." "Eeyup." Big Macintosh said, feigning enthusiasm. Applejack whacked the side of her pie tin, flipping it off the tray and into the garbage pail by the door. "I'll get to it right now. Sorry to leave all the Applebuckin' to you, Big Macintosh. I got a feelin' I'll repay you someday." "Eeeyup." Big Macintosh said sarcastically to his sister, watching as she walked out of her room. He and Granny Smith followed her out the door of her bedroom, and followed her even closer out the front door. Applejack was getting suspicious of how close Granny Smith and Big Macintosh were following her. As she reached the barn, she stopped and turned to them. "Uh, is there a reason y'all are followin' me so close?" Applejack said, opening the creaky old doors to the barn. "SURPRISE!" A crowd in the barn shouted gleefully. Most were people she knew from Ponyville, like Rarity. Others she had never seen before in her life, among them a purple unicorn, a yellow pegasus with a soft pink mane, and a blue pegasus with rainbow hair. In the very front of all of the ponies who had shown up was Pinkie Pie, Applejack's best friend... ........I............... ........h..o......pe....... ....y................ou... .................g...... ...e.....t............... ..w..................... ...........ell............ .......s..........o...... ............o.....n...... ....................... "DOCTOR!" A nurse shouted frantically, looking at the signals coming from Applejack, shown on the monitor, rising and falling. "Something's happening!" "What is it, what's going on?" Applejack's doctor raced to the nurse as fast as possible. "The signals in her brain are going haywire!" "Haywire? That doesn't sound like a very technical term, nurse Redheart, what are you talking about?" "She's been comatose for months. It seems like she's being pulled out of her coma but her mind is struggling to regain full control." "Meaning?" the doctor said, feeling out of his depth. "She's waking up, but it's happening too fast for her psyche to handle." "Well, what can we do about it?" "That's just it, situations like this, they're a rarity. There's nothing we can do." "Everyone leave the room." A voice commanded. Applejack's mind was racing, her head pounding. She was hyperventilating but trying to concentrate. It was difficult to think over the sound of her heartbeat in her ears, pounding away like drums. Then, a voice spoke. The voice was loud, but at the same time soothing, like a mother trying to calm a crying baby. But the voice was also urgent. "Think back," the voice said to Applejack. Applejack started to calm down. Doing as the voice said, Applejack began thinking back on her days, days where she worked the orchard, she worked the farm, she played with Winona, played with Pinkie Pie... "That's right, Pinkie Pie. She was your friend before your accident." Accident? Applejack wondered what the voice meant by that. She never had any serious accidents at Sweet Apple Acres. "No, before Sweet Apple Acres. Remember the dirt road." The dirt road? Applejack was beginning to recall how she got back home to Sweet Apple Acres, recalling the dirt road she walked for hours. "Good, good. Now think before that." Before that I.... What was before that? Now Applejack was on the dirt road again, this time, in front of Sweet Apple Acres. "Re-trace your steps, Applejack. Find your way back." Applejack, once again, turned her back to Sweet Apple Acres and started walking. "Applejack, you need to hurry." Applejack got a feeling of urgence, and began to walk faster, then began to run. After a few minutes of running at her highest speed, she saw something in the distance that stood out: a small table, the kind she usually saw in hospital rooms when she had to pick up medicine for Granny Smith. She slowed to a light trot as she approached the table. There was a card on the table, it looked like a birthday card because the front had a design of three balloons, one yellow and two blue. Applejack picked up the card and looked inside. Dear Applejack, I hope you get well soon. Pinkie Pie. Applejack opened her eyes. It was night, and the moon shone through her hospital room. She tried to sit up, but her body felt so weak. She relaxed her head on the pillow and sighed deeply. She was so tired, but she couldn't sleep yet; she didn't want to. She turned her head, trying to take in her surroundings. On her left was a wall with a calendar on it, marked up until today, her birthday. Closer to her, she saw the table from the dream. Along with a birthday card and three balloons, there was a single, pink-frosted, yellow cupcake with sprinkles on the table. Applejack smiled tiredly. Applejack turned her head to the other side of the room to see Pinkie Pie, asleep in a chair only a few feet away from Applejack's bed. End of Chapter 10 To Be Continued...