Chapter XXIII
Dash's afternoon nap didn't last long. Just long enough to get lost. She would have preferred to doze on a cloud, or maybe in the branches of a tree, but the fertile grass was comfortable enough. When she finally opened her eyes sometime later, every pony was gone. There was no smarmy Applejack, or stoic Little Mac, or leashed Applebloom or Granny Smith even. Even Fluttershy was gone. That fact caused her to bolt upright.
"Fluttershy?" Dash called. No answer. "Fluttershy?!"
Dash was starting to panic. No Apple family? No problem. Sure, they were kind enough with their home grown ways and funny accents, but they were Earth Ponies. They meant a warm bed and help getting back home. No Fluttershy though? No Fluttershy meant no friend. No Fluttershy meant going back to loneliness and longing, of fights and flunking. Without Fluttershy there was no Rainbow Dash.
What if something happened to her? What if the Apples were actually a gang of banditos from the badlands, here to kidnap Fluttershy and hold her for ransom? It was a possibility; Claw was planning on doing that. Maybe Fluttershy was in trouble. Dash had to find her, and fast.
She set off at a clean gallop in a blind direction. If she'd used her head she may have noticed the trail of lightly grazed grass leading away from the tree, or perhaps even the itinerant apple crate standing out like breadcrumbs.
Running wild, it took Dash several minutes to work herself to a point where she could think straight. Her brain was working, even if her mind wasn't. Slowing to a trot, she swept her ears back and forth, scanning for any tell-tale sounds. There should have been the sounds of apple bucking, or Applebloom's cries; something! Instead she couldn't make out anything but the rustle of leaves and the blood rushing in her ears.
No, that wasn't quite true. There, on the wind, she could hear the faintest of sounds. It was a high, squeaky range with a melodious octave; Fluttershy. She'd been running exactly the wrong direction. Rearing around, Dash kicked into high gear, rushing for her friend. She could hear her now, just faintly but growing clearer.
The orchard was well organized, Dash gave it that. The trees, some older than her father, were laid out in patchwork rows. Easy enough to run through, especially if you were Rainbow Dash. She zeroed in on the sound of Fluttershy's voice.
Dash almost ran headlong into Applejack's backside. She had to put on the breaks to keep from slamming into the slightly-larger Earth Pony. Even then she smacked into her orange blank flank. Applejack glanced back, scowling at Dash.
"Where'd you guys go? Why di-"
"SSSHHH!" AJ shushed her.
Then Dash heard it; the singing. She should have known all along. Fluttershy stood in the clearing, twirling around on her hind legs, singing at the top of her longs. Eyes shut, wings and forelegs outstretched, hair whipping in the wind, she was the purest picture of innocence. Dash had heard her sing before, several times. Yet here, in this open fresh air with no pony watching, Fluttershy demonstrated the full range of her vocal talent.
Only... there were ponies watching. Every member of the Apple family poked their heads through the tree line, watching this young angel sing. Across the clearing the large, red head of Little Mac poked through, orange mane flapping beneath his brown Stetson. Even Applebloom fell silent at Granny's feet as she stood, star struck.
Dash, for her part, stood transfixed as well. Fluttershy was beautiful, with a voice that made nightmares fall in love. Singing lullabies in their dorm room was nothing compared to this. This was a song every pony knew from foal-hood, that they sang ever Summer Sun Celebration. But here Fluttershy sang it from her heart, full and happy.
A single tear rolled down Applejack's cheek, shimmering as it crashed into the dust below. Dash glanced her way, studying this hard-willed pony. Everything about her, from the set of her eye to the movement ion her stance, even the way she lay her hair, all screamed one work; Hard. Yet Fluttershy, with nothing more than an impromptu acapella version of what many ponies considered to be their national anthem, had brought this young filly to the verge of tears. Dash didn't like Applejack, but she felt that she understood her, even if just a bit.
"Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly.
"What are you doin' here?' AJ turned away quickly, wiping her face on her foreleg.
"I woke up and you guys were gone."
"This here's a farm, pipsqueak. We ain't got time to be lollygaggin' around while you're off bein' lazy somewhere."
"I wasn't 'off somewhere.' I was right there! You could have woken me up or something."
"I don't have the time enough in the day to be worryin' about some stranger like you." Applejack turned, staring down Rainbow Dash.
"It wouldn't have taken any time at all! Just a 'Hey y'all, Rainbow Dash, we're moving down that thar farm a ways.'" mocked Dash.
"I guess I could've." The orange workhorse leaned forward, looking Dash in the eye. She was a good head taller than Dash. "But I didn't. Now get outta my way; I've got a farm to run."
AJ swished her tail as she trotted past, smacking Dash in the face causing her to sneeze. That was the last straw. Some girls, like Fluttershy, would have been in tears by now. Not Rainbow Dash; she'd had more than her share of dealing with bullies. She knew just how to handle them to defuse a situation, and what to say to start a fight. Unfortunately she never could hold her tongue very well.
"Yeah, well at least I was just napping and not hiding in the bushes crying." Dash shot back, a smirk spreading from ear to ear.
AJ pulled up short, ears alert, voice ice cold. "What did you say?"
"I guess I should put it in terms you understand." Dash walked slowly forward, favoring her good side. There was a fight coming, and she needed to protect her damaged wing. "Y'er shirkin' y'er work an' cryin' like a little foal."
Applejack turned, facing down the smaller filly. Granny had told her not to fight; time and time again she'd been told to stop fighting with the other children, to just let things go. And time and time again she ignored Granny's warnings and bottled things up till she exploded. Every filly and colt in Ponyville knew not to mess with Applejack, or you'd end up seeing Nurse Redheart. She fought dirty, she fought mean.
Rainbow Dash, never having met the Apple family before, had no way of knowing that every pony avoided the toe-headed filly. She didn't know about the days and nights AJ spent alone without a friend in the world besides her brother. She didn't know about her short temper, or her dirty tricks, or even her main weapons, "Bucky McGillycuddy" and "Kicks McGee."
But Dash had been in enough scraps to know a fighter when she saw one. Applejack stood stalk still, nostrils flaring, ears twitching as those emerald eyes burned into her own vermilion pair. Dash shrank a bit, making herself a smaller target. Inside her heart began to race. This wasn't like fighting Hoops and his gang. They were bullies. Bullies beat up ponies and ran. They didn't have what it took to stick with it; they weren't fighters. But Applejack...
Dash felt an unsettling cold nestle into the back of her lungs, a feeling she tentatively identified as fear. She'd faced down punks, thugs and Apollyon, for Celestia sake! How was she scared of some no account farm girl? She thought about how to take her down. It had to be the neck, the neck below the head. And once she was there she must never let go. Dash had to buck that bronco till she dropped, and she wasn't quite sure she could do it.
It was far too silent. The breeze barely moved the leaves in the thicket, and Fluttershy's melodious voice had fallen still. It was just the subtle shift of Applejack's muscles and her own blood pounding in Rainbow Dash's ears.
Dash was just about to call it off when Applejack made her move. There was no scream, no whinny; she wasn't so unprofessional as to advertise her attacks. She simply charged, spun and bucked hard. Dash's instinct was to fly higher, a mistake that almost took her head off. She remembered her out-of-order wings with barely enough time to duck as AJ's buck cleared just a whisker from where she'd been. Rolling, Dash found herself looking into the sights of those double cannons again, swiveling her direction. Dash rolled aside again just as they fired.
"Hold still, ya varmint!" Muttered AJ.
Dash then realized something. Yes, Applejack was bigger, stronger, heavier and more powerful than Dash, but she was also an Earth Pony. Rainbow Dash was a Luna-blessed Pegasus! She was lighter, smaller and faster than anything AJ had fought before. Dash might not be able to beat AJ in a straight fight, but she could wear her into submission.
Applejack fired off another bone-breaking kick, this one far too close for Dash's comfort. Tearing off for the nearest tree, she heard AJ grunt in protest as she gave chase. Dash leapt around the curve of the trunk just as Applejack body checked it. Then she was gone again, leaving the stunned orange cowgirl behind. It was Dash's turn to whip her tail, giving AJ a nice crack across the face as she went by.
That was her mistake. Dash was flying mid-leap one moment and then belly flat on the ground the next. AJ had her by the tail, slowly winding her in like a lasso.
"That's enough of that." Applejack towered over her.
Grounded and winded, Dash was precious short on time and options. With as rage filled as this pony looked, she had little doubt she was about to meet the business end of a buck. Quickly flipping over, Dash found the soft and venerable underbelly to be such an easy target. And her only target. She started trampling from below, pounding into AJ's frothy chest and abdomen. The older pony gasped and Dash had an opening to roll aside.
Instead, she pressed her luck, continuing to pepper her opponent from below. It didn't take Applejack long to catch on, slamming Dash's head into the ground three or four times. She lost count as her vision blurred.
"Any last words?" Three Applejacks loomed above her, dancing around one another. Dash couldn't even tell which was the real one to defend herself against.
There was a scream. Fluttershy. Dash had to fight for Fluttershy. She raised a hoof weakly only to have to brushed aside by all thee Applejacks. Then there was another scream, shouting Granny's name. This wasn't Fluttershy, the pitch was all wrong, too much of a baby. Where was Dash again? What was happening?
One of the Applejacks slammed her hoof down and then the only thing Dash could see were stars and light. She could taste the iron in her mouth. Was that blood? Dash could just make out Applejack raising both fore hooves again, only to be wiped out by a titanic red streak. There was a bit of a scuffle, and Dash could hear the slap of hooves on flesh and AJ screaming 'Get off me!' Dash wasn't on her. What was going on?
Then Fluttershy was there, caressing her face and calling her name. 'Stop crying, Fluttershy, you're getting my face wet' thought Dash. Even unfocused Dash could make out that kind and caring face, with eyes that would never lie or betray her. Fluttershy was here, everything would be alright.
And with that, Rainbow Dash blacked out.