Moments after Princess Celestia and Phantom left
Rainbow Dash laid her head down to sleep and closed her eyes. She felt Applejack’s stetson hat move, which brought her out of her drowsiness. The hat was contained in a pink aura. Rainbow knew who the owner was, and looked over at Twilight, whose horn was also glowing. Twilight levitated the hat off of her cyan friend’s head and placed it on a hanger next to the door.
“She’ll come back, Rainbow,” she spoke optimistically.
“I know that!” Rainbow Dash replied, infuriated that her friend would even think that she had given up.
“Rainbow,” Rarity began. “You must calm down. We all hope that Applejack isn’t gone. but you must face the facts. Applebloom knew Applejack was in the barn when the fire started. If Applejack had escaped, don’t you think she would have appeared by now?”
“No remains have been found, though! Explain that, Miss Prissy Pants!” Rainbow was standing on all fours, her brows furled and her one good wing erect. She was ready to charge.
“Umm... girls?” Fluttershy tried to intervene, but her soft voice was easily drowned out by the yelling.
“Oh! Why I never! I was simply stating the facts that it was an extremely hot fire with a lot of fuel. Nopony could have survived, as much as we would like to believe otherwise.”
“Why are you trying so hard to make me believe she’s gone?” Rainbow was on the verge of tears.
“I was simply saying you shouldn’t get your hopes up. It will only lead to further disappointment.”
“Take. That. Back...” Rainbow was slowly encroaching upon Rarity, who seemed to be startled and looked around for an escape route, but found none.
“GIRLS!” Fluttershy’s scream nearly cracked the wooden walls. “Please, don’t fight.” There was already a tear dripping from her eye.
The tension in the room instantly deflated. Both Rainbow and Rarity eased up and stared down at the wooden floor shamefully. The two spoke softly in unison “I’m sorry.”
A quiet rapping at the door caught everypony’s attention. Twilight teleported to the door, hastily opening it.
“Applejack!” She yelled excitedly. Every other pony in the room sprang to their feet, hoping for the best. But their emotions fell as they saw Twilight’s fall. It was obvious by her emotion that whoever was at the door was not Applejack. “Oh, Soarin’, w-what a surprise.” Rainbow’s ears perked back up; a slight smile grew across her muzzle.
“Hello, Princess Sparkle,” Soarin’ responded. “Is Rainbow Dash here?”
“Umm...” Twilight glanced over at the prismatic pegasus. “Yeah, what do you need?”
“Well, I wanted to see if she was okay. I heard about last night. It’s just terrible.”
“Alrighty, let me go... uh, find, her. Be right back!” She hurriedly slammed the door in his face and ran over to the stunned pegasus. “You sure you want to go with him? He knows about last night.”
“Everypony in town will know soon. ‘Sides, Applejack wouldn’t want us to be moping around worrying about her.” Rainbow trotted past Twilight and opened the door. In front of her stood Soarin’, wearing his formal blue Wonderbolts tuxedo, decorated in ribbons and medals, and a black tie. “Hey, Soarin’.”
“Hey, Rainbow Dash...” Soarin’ was nervously rubbing the back of his head, searching for the right words to say. "I'm... I-I'm sorry about last night."
"Don't be. We can always rebuild some stinkin' barn. Can't be that hard."
"Actually, I was talking about your friend, Applejack." Had he been paying paying attention, he would have seen the other ponies behind Rainbow Dash flailing their forelegs around trying to get him to stop before it was too late. "If you need somepony to talk to, I'm here for—"
"Stop. She's not gone. She's only missing. She'll turn up at sometime."
"Rainbow..." Soarin' tried to look reassuring, but the stubborn look Rainbow was giving back cancelled that attempt. Quickly, he tried to recover. "So, uh, you still up for some lunch?"
The cyan pegasus thought for a moment before shrugging. "Sure. I need to focus on other things, anyway." She nearly pushed him out of the way heading outside. Simultaneously, she used her tail to pull the door shut. Soarin’ hesitated to react from her rashness. Eventually, though, he shook his head and chased after the mare, quickly catching up to her. The two pegasi trotted away from the library, side by side.
From their current position, they could see a crowd forming around the town hall. Ponies from all over Equestria were visible, but more easily spotted were the ones that were not from the region. In fact, not all of them were ponies in the first place. There were horses from Saddle Arabia, a few griffons, and a good amount of crystal ponies; some of whom were the first to set hoof in Equestria since the Empire’s reemergence. Pairs of guards patrolled in and out of the crowd.. Mayor Mare was perched up on the balcony of the town hall, overlooking the gathering crowd. The respectable pony was in the middle of a speech, introducing all of the ponies and non-ponies to the fair.
Some of her words were audible from their distance. The phrase, “Now please, help me in welcoming the raiser of the Sun, Princess Celestia!” stood out amongst her other words. Applause roared up from the cloud. Rainbow Dash could see the the great white mare step out onto the balcony, passing Mayor Mare. For a brief moment though, she thought she saw a dark blue creature to her side, but it blended into the shadows too well to see what exactly it was. She shrugged it off, reasoning it was a part of her imagination.
“Fillies and gentlecolts,” she began. “We are here to celebrate my student, Twilight Sparkle, becoming an Alicorn, and a princess. She is, as of this moment, preoccupied with more pressing matters, but I assure you she will be at the fair, and more than willing to meet you. We have many events scheduled for you over the course of the fair. Today, we will have an Iron Pony competition."
Rainbow tuned the Princess out. As long as her wing was healed before the Wonderbolts' show, she would be fine.
"May I ask you a... difficult... question?" Soarin' asked her.
At first, Rainbow Dash was puzzled by the request. Possibilities as to what the question could be surged through her mind.
"Sure? I guess," she finally replied, with much hesitation.
"What happened in the fire? How did Appleja--" Soarin' caught himself, remembering what the mare at barked at him moments ago. "How did the fire start?"
Rainbow Dash hesitated again. She understood that Soarin' wasn't as confident as Rainbow Dash that Applejack was still alive, but it still hurt seeing that somepony could think she was possibly gone. The best way to support her thinking that Applejack was still alive was by telling what Apple Bloom had seen.
"Apple Bloom went to the barn to help her sister out when she saw that it was on fire. She didn't seen anypony leave. And there's the good possibility that Applejack may not have been inside anyway. I don't think anypony knows how the fire was started yet.”
“That’s terrible,” Soarin’ told Rainbow. “I... I can’t imagine how you feel.”
“Believe me, you don’t want to know. I just can’t accept that she’d dead yet.”
“But, you saw the fire... Nopony could have survived.”
“No remains have been found either. Like I said, Applejack may not have even been in the barn in the first place."
"So where is she? You don't think somepony might be invovled, do you?"
"That's exactly what I think. Somepony is involved. Applejack knew the fire hazard and did everything she could to prevent one from starting.”
“Everypony makes mistakes, Dash. You should know that. Lunch isn’t off, is it?”
“No. You’re buying this time.”
The two ponies stopped outside of an older looking house, just a few blocks away from Sugar Cube Corner.
“Look, I gotta take care of something for Spitfire real fast, think you could go ahead? Maybe claim a table before some other pony does? It looks like Princess Celestia’s speech is almost over, and with it being lunch time, those food vendors are going to be really busy.”
“Okay. I’ll see ya in a few minutes.”
Soarin' nodded and continued to stand just outside of the door of the desolate, run-down house. Rainbow Dash wouldn't dare enter there, though she'd never admit it. The house had become a sort of legend, especially amongst the foals. Whenever a ball would go into the yard, for example, it would stay there. Forever. Nopony would retrieve it. It has been this way as long as Rainbow Dash had been in Ponyville, and as long as anypony she talked to about it could remember. Yet here was Soarin', outside like it was his quarters back in Cloudsdale. Several times in the past she had told herself she was going to go inside, but she always decided against it. This time, she headed towards Sugar Cube Corner in the hopes that she could secure a table for herself and Soarin' before the soon-to-be hungry crowd dispersed. As she trotted away, the creaking from the rusted hinges were easily heard as the door opened, then shut a few moments later.
Once Rainbow Dash was a few houses away, she thought she heard the door creaking again. She looked at the rotting piece of wood, expecting to see Soarin' emerge. Nothing. The only sign that the door had even moved was the slight vibrations still moving through the faded glass. No, she thought stubbornly. I'm Rainbow Dash! Not Fluttershy. I. Am. Going. In.
She turned with a determined face. She was going inside, Celestia helping or not. Nopony would have been able to stop her as she stomped her way up to the rotting door. She stopped inches from it. The cool air from inside seeped through the cracks and washed over her hooves, sending cold shivers up her legs. Rainbow took a series of deep breaths. Okay. Applejack would go with you. In fact, she would probably push you in, but she would still go in with you. Just pretend she's here...
Rainbow took a deep breath, turned the rusty door knob, and proceeded in. With a loud series of creaks, the door slowly swung open.
A thick layer of dusty covered everything inside. On the floor, two sets of hoofprints easily stood out amongst the dust. The dust in the air above the hoofprints were still moving in the direction of their travel. After sneezing once, then twice, and finally regaining her composure, Rainbow Dash followed the prints. Looking around, she made sure no other ponies were there. Her focus turned back to following the hoofprints, which led into a hallway, then turned. The smell of smoke took her off guard. Fire? I don't see any fire... Rainbow pressed on.
Rounding the corner, she saw the flick of a dark tail go into a side room. She was about to pounce on the unsuspecting pony, but decided against it. If Soarin' knew she was spying on him and Spitfire, they may not let her into the Wonderbolts. Why are they meeting here, anyway? Slowly, Rainbow sneaked forward.
A few silent pauses passed. There was a distinct sound that she heard, one that she assumed was stone grinding against stone. Out of the doorway, and new wave of dust emerged into the hallway. Something old had just opened. The sudden sound had frozen in place. Once the newly produced dust cloud settled, Rainbow continued forward. She though she heard the faint, if not muffled, yell from somepony, but shrugged it off. Soon, she arrived at the doorway. Peaking inside, Rainbow saw a very, very small room with a gaping hole in the stone floor. Smoke could be smelled easily, coming from inside. The hay?
Rainbow Dash slowly stalked into the small room, then through the opening into the dark cavern. The tunnel itself was dimly lit, and was erratic in it's path as a whole. It seemed to go by like a roller coaster, as quickly too. With one final dip, and short climb, Rainbow Dash found herself at the entrance to a stone hall.
Standing in the middle of said hall was Phantom, who seemed entranced into talking to the wall to his side. The only source of light was from a lantern hung up above and slightly behind him. Rainbow began to wonder when he got here, but instead payed more attention to the conversation he appeared to be having.
“What?" Phantom gasped in disbelief, ashamed of something that was apparently said to him before Rainbow had gotten within earshot. "No. I didn’t ponynap you. I’m from the Royal Guard. Do you know ponynapped you?”
“Royal Guard? Ya don’t look like a guard...” Something about that voice sound familiar to Dash. Especially the accent. Wait a Celestia cursed second...
“I’m Phantom, from the Intelligence division. Do you remember who ponynapped you?”
“Name’s Applejack.” It took all of Dash's energy to suppress her scream of joy. She was just about to sprint over to where Phantom was standing, but was pinned down when she heard the sounds of approaching hoofsteps. Phantom appeared too distracted by his current conversation to have noticed; a severe lapse in his training. He seemed to roll his eyes, though, from Rainbow's distance, she couldn't be sure.
“Who. Ponynapped. You?” His voiced was laced with anger.
Something was mumbled by Applejack, too low for Rainbow to hear. What ever it was, made Phantom look up and sigh.
“Let’s get this over with...” he spoke loudly. When he turned around, a wood 2x4 swung out from the darkness, smacking him clean in the muzzle. With a crack and a thud, Phantom fell limply to the ground. Rainbow gasped in fear, unable to move from her position.
A new pony emerged into the light from the wall next to the lanter, supporting evidence that there was another hall there. Rainbow thought the new stallion looked familiar, but couldn't place his green coat and white mane... Nor his cloud and chisel cuite mark. Where have I seen him before?
"You didn't have to hit him that hard, boss." It wasn't the green stallion who said this. The new voice seemed to come from the hall that Rainbow couldn't see, and was only confirmed when the stalion turned to face whoever was speaking to him.
"Oh, but he ever so does irritate me. First he saved that stupid mare, and now he followed you, nearly revealing our plans."
"So you're going to lock him up with her, now?"
"Possibly. I may kill him first."
"Bloodshed will only make things wor--"
"You're worried about bloodshed? Whose idea was it to get rid of that mare you hold so dearly?" There was a moments pause. "Exactly."
Gotta tell somepony. Rainbow Dash thought frantically to herself. Gotta find Twilight, or Shining.
Slowly, Rainbow tried to stealthily back up, only to slip in the loose rock. She accidentally kicked a rock against the wall. The resulting noise was loud enough for the green stallion to hear.
"What was that?" he asked with suspicion.
"What was what?"
"I thought I heard something..."
Applejack guffawed. "'S probably one of mah friends comin' to save me. Ya'll are in trouble now!"
"Quiet you!" The green stallion appeared to hit something metallic on the wall. His attention turned back towards the other stallion he was talking to. "Put this nuisance in with her. I'm going to go check this noise out."
"Yes, sir."
The green stallion began moving cautiously towards Rainbow's position. Horseapples... Sorry, Applejack, I'll find help and get ya out soon. Rainbow Dash attempted to make a hasty retreat. She skillfully slid down the small dirt slope. When she reached the very bottom, something strange happened. The ground below her cracked. A fine mist of water shot up from them. Crud. Before she could react, the dirt below gave way. Letting out a startled 'Eek!', Rainbow found herself falling. It was a short fall, however. In mere moments, she found herself landing in a rapidly moving, and very cold underground stream. Briefly, she wondered if this was the same one that ran through the park.
Rainbow Dash struggled to keep her head above the what she would have guessed was white water. But in the darkness, it was impossible to say where she was going, or how fast. A blinding light filled her vision. At first she thought she was about to meet her demise. Instead, the light served as a source of fresh air. By the speed at which it was growing, Rainbow Dash had to assume she was moving very rapidly. At a speed that would have matched her aerial cruising speed. After what seemed like an eternity spent on the cusp of death, Rainbow Dash finally emerged into the light, only to fall about three stories off of a waterfall in to a large body of water below.
The pegasus quickly swam up, sucking in a ridiculous amount of air once she surfaced that cause her to cough profusely. Her vision swam. Rainbow took a few precious moments to regain her composure, and examine her surroundings. Somehow, someway, she had made her way to the resivoir behind the Ponyville dam. The dam itself wasn't too far away, and servered as her beacon to reach shore. Motivation pushed Rainbow as hard as she could. Even if her wing wasn't broken, it would be near impossible to fly in this condition. The preening I'll have to do after this one... Rainbow shook her head, expelling the thoughts. No! Gotta save Applejack first! Gotta save Phantom! Gotta tell somepony!
Her swim to shore wiped away her energy reserves, though she hadn't done much that day, other than discover her best friend was truly alive and nearly drown. Determined still, she dragged herself through the wet and dry sand on the shore. In front of her lay the long gravel road back to Ponyville. It would have been faster to cut through the forest, but the uneven terrain would have sucked the rest of her energy away. There was no denying that she'd need it for this haul alone. Persevering, the pegasus donned a look of fierce determination, and galloped forward at full speed.