//------------------------------//
// At the Door 
// Story: Stepping Stones 
// by yoshiXII 
//------------------------------//


What we have done with ourselves alone dies with us;
What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.


-Albert Pike


“Help!”
Applejack glanced up. Rarity was hanging on the rope bridge that swung on its side above the deep valley below; her hooves grasped the rope tightly. The cacophony of the rain threatened to drown her voice as water plinked down the bridges’ wooden planks. Rarity’s hair was pressed against her forehead, slick with sweat. Lightning flashed across the dark skies as thunder followed suit.
“Hold on, Ah’ve got you!”
Tremlett, Applejack’s father, took off the harness to his cart and sprinted before coming to a halt before the bridge. His green mane blew in the wind underneath his hat, clashing against his sky blue skin adorned with a radiant zap-apple for a cutie mark. The bridge creaked under Rarity’s weight, dropping a few inches. Rarity shrieked while Tremlett examined the ropes. Since both the poles were missing on the left side, the bridge tilted at this precarious angle. The ropes near the center, where Rarity was, were frayed.
Applejack watched in horror as her father put a hoof on the right support rope. He gripped the rope with both of his forehooves before pulling himself up. He grunted as he worked his way toward Rarity until he left the ground. Hoof over hoof, he finally made it a few feet away from Rarity. They hovered there above the precarious drop below.
Honeycrisp, Applejack’s mother, galloped to the edge. Her cutie mark was a tree and she had a pink mane accompanying her magenta skin. “Sugarcube, are you all right?”
“Ah’m fine,” Tremett replied. “Don’t know ‘bout this here fellow, though.”
“I’m fine as well,” Rarity said with a gasp. “Just a bit scared.”
Tremlett extended a hoof. “Grab on!”
Rarity tried to grab hold of the hoof before slipping off. A moment passed as she cried out and fell before Tremlett grabbed her hoof. Struggling with exertion, he pulled Rarity back up to the bridge’s level. “Keep both hooves on the rope. Ah’ll try leading you back.”
After Rarity grabbed hold of the rope again, Tremlett wrapped a hoof around her waist behind her and alternated pulling himself with his hoof and using the wooden planks of the bridge as footholds. Slowly but surely they made their way back to Applejack and her mother.
“Now tell me,” Tremlett started, “why didja’ decide to go on a bridge on such a stormy day?”
Rarity gulped some air. “I had to. I needed the spark of inspiration. To thrust myself into nature seemed to be the only option. I needed to feel alive again. Then the poles fell and I hung onto the rope for a few minutes before you guys came. Why were you guys here without any umbrella?”
“We’re here cuz’ we need to deliver apples to our relatives in Dodge City like we do every year. Rain doesn’t scare me.”
“Then how come Applejack and Honeycrisp are with you if they don’t have their own carts?”
Tremett chuckled. “Ah wanted to make sure Applejack learned the family trade and Honey here decided to tag along. Plus, Ah wanted Applejack to finally gain her cutie mark.”
“Hurry up,” Applejack said, a note of anxiety creeping into her voice. She glanced at the cart and the road for a moment before turning back. “We haven’t got all day.”
“Now, now, Applejack we can’t rus-“
The center of the bridge snapped with a sickening crack. The two broken ends of the bridge went flying against side of the cliff. Splinters of wood broke off before departing to the valley below.  Tremlett lost his grip and fell. Surprise flickered across his face as he extended his right hoof.
Honeycrisp darted her hooves out and grabbed onto the hoof. “Ah’ve got you!” she cried out.
Applejack rushed to her mother’s side. “Ma, you need any help?” she asked anxiously. She looked down to see Rarity clinging onto the rope against the broken bridge.
Honeycrisp grunted. “No, I’m fi-“
She slipped.
Everything happened in a blur for Applejack. First she noticed that her mother was standing on an especially slippery patch of grass. Then she noticed the close proximity to the edge. The cries of a warning died on her lips as Honeycrsip’s rear hooves gave way. Applejack bit at her mother’s tail only to miss. Tremlett and Honeycrisp fell down into the valley.
“No!” Applejack heard somepony shout, perhaps it was her. It happened so fast that she couldn’t register that it was real. Her head throbbed as she felt hot tears trickle down her cheeks with the rain. A confusing array of emotions enveloped her, making her nauseous. She rocked unsteadily on her hooves before looking down.
Her parents weren’t there. They weren’t there on an elaborately painted tarp laughing at her for falling for the prank. They weren’t visible and shaking off their legs after the fall. They weren’t clinging onto the bridge. There was only a shaken Rarity with tears streaking down her face.
“I’m s-so sorry, Applejack.”
But being sorry wouldn’t bring them back. It wouldn’t give them strength to climb back up and embrace Applejack again like they’ve done. It was only an empty word.
The rain fell as if to drown them.